Mind and Metal
by Judy.Laura.L
Summary: "Who are you?" "My name is Charlotte Xavier." "You're not alone. Erik, you're not alone." Charlotte and Erik didn't know it then, but their lives were bound together forever. As friends. As enemies. As lovers. No matter what.
1. Prologue

**I don't own anything. Just so everybody is clear with that.**

 **I've recently got into the X-men series since the tv show The Gifted came out last fall, and I've been recently reading a lot of X-men fanfics. Over the past few months I've thought of writing an Erik/Charlotte fanfic and have played around with several ideas in my head. I hope you all will enjoy this.**

 **P.S. I thought the new movie the Dark Phoenix was coming out this fall, but then I found out it comes out next year which ticks me off.**

Mind and Metal: First Class

"Who are you?" "My name is Charlotte Xavier." "You're not alone. Erik, you're not alone." Charlotte and Erik didn't know it then, but their lives were bound together forever. As friends. As enemies. As lovers. No matter what.

 **Prologue:**

Poland, 1944

You could hear the shouts of German soldiers and the barking of dogs as they herded groups of Jews fresh from the train cars through the concentration camp known as Auschwitz.

Among the many Jews was a young boy named Erik Lehnsherr. It was raining and the air was so cold it chilled him to the bone as he walked alongside his mother, his father, and his people. The fourteen-year-old boy couldn't understand why this was happening.

Throughout the war, his family had been hiding from the Nazis until they had been caught and sent to the camps. During their years of hiding, Erik would hear his parents talking in the night when they thought their children were asleep. The Great War had left Germany in a state of turmoil until the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler rose to power, promising to lead the Germans into a new era. He had convinced them that it had been the Jews responsible for their loss in the war, and the devastation to their beloved country. Just like that, friends and neighbors had disappeared whether from fleeing the country or worse. Children whom Erik had known for years treated him and his sister differently, calling them horrible names.

Tears stung his eyes as Erik remembered his sweet innocent little sister, Ruth. She had been among the unfortunate ones not able to survive the journey here in the train cars where they had been filled in so tightly it was difficult to breath. When they left the train cars the Nazis had taken his sister's body, despite his parents' pleas and tossed her among the other poor souls that didn't make it. The last image Erik had of his sister were her beautiful auburn locks she had inherited from their mother sticking out amongst the dark clothed corpses around her.

As Erik trudged down the muddy paths into his unknown fate, he saw the prisoners who had been here longer through the wire fences. They were all dressed in the same ragged blue striped outfit, and their heads were either covered with a cap or shaved. They were skinny and pale from the lack of nourishment and a sad resignation in their faces as they worked to fulfill their tasks despite the rain, the mud, and the cold. What caught Erik's eyes were the numbers tattooed on their arms like a brand.

He was unable to look more as his family reached the gates where soldiers shoved people on different paths: those who lived and those who died.

Erik was separated from his parents and pushed on to a path while his parents were taken to a different path with many others. Erik struggled not to trip and fall into the path as he was pushed among the crowd away from his parents until he found a spot where he could see his parents as they were being herded in the opposite direction.

His father's eyes found him, and he looked to be in a state of shock as he and his wife were separated from their only son and surviving child. Erik's mother cried out to him and tried to push through in a desperate attempt to reach him.

Erik was on the verge of crying as he realized he was on the verge of losing his parents, his family. If they were gone, he would be all alone.

Soldiers stopped his mother, but she pleaded and begged as she desperately tried to reach her son. Erik ran to the gate, calling out to his mother.

He tried to reach it, but he was stopped by one of the soldiers before he could make it, his hand outstretched towards the gate as it closed and was locked. Erik struggled in the soldier's grasp, trying to reach the gate that separated him and his parents.

Anger filled him at these monsters who took his parents away and kept him from them. Erik didn't know what was happening as a power surged through his being.

Another soldier came to hold him then another until there were four soldiers holding on to him as he continued to reached out towards the gate and it started to bend. He didn't care what was going on as this new power brought him closer and closer towards the bending gate.

The men holding him watched in fear and astonishment as the metal gate bent like clay, and the boy they were holding on to dragged them through the mud, until a sergeant brought the but of his gun and slammed it into the boy's face. The men fell back into the mud from the sudden release.

Erik Lehnsherr laid on the ground, muddy and unconscious as the rain poured down on him, unaware of the eyes watching him.

000{{*}}000

Westchester, New York

Charlotte Xavier woke up with a startled gasp. She had been dreaming of a boy in pain lying on a muddy ground, rain pouring down on him when she woke to a commotion downstairs. To a normal person they wouldn't have been able to hear it in the large mansion, but Charlotte Xavier was no normal person. At this hour in the night her mother and step-family would still be sleeping as would the servants in their quarters.

Getting out of her bed, Charlotte crept down the dark halls in her home, grabbing her step-brother's baseball bat so she would have a weapon on hand. She followed where her senses were leading her until she reached the kitchen. Bat raised and her heart racing, Charlotte entered the kitchen when she recognized the figure of her mother rummaging through the fridge.

"Mother?"

Relief filled her even though she felt slightly foolished and annoyed with herself as she put the bat down.

"What are you…? I thought you were a burglar."

Sharon Xavier-Marko leaned on the fridge and smiled apologetically. "I didn't mean to scare you, darling. I was just getting a snack," she said sweetly. "Go back to bed."

Charlotte felt uneasy. Ever since her father's death and Sharon's quick marriage to his partner Dr. Kurt Marko their relationship had been strained.

Noticing that Charlotte had no intention of leaving, Sharon asked, "What's the matter? Go on, back to bed."

When Charlotte still wouldn't leave, Sharon bent down to her level, smiling sweetly. "I'll make you hot chocolate."

Now Charlotte knew what was wrong. Even when her father had been alive, her mother never acted this loving towards her.

"Who are you?"

She glanced at the picture hanging on the wall of her and her mother. She was wearing the exact same dress with her pearl necklace. Looking back at the person posing as her mother, Charlotte demanded, "And what have you done with my mother?"

 _My mother has never set foot in this kitchen in her life,_ Charlotte projected into the imposter's head.

The imposter suddenly started backing away fearfully, holding her head.

 _And she certainly never made me hot chocolate. Unless you count ordering the maid to do it._

The imposter had realized the voice inside her head was coming from the girl before her. Her eyes turned to a bright amber color, her blonde hair to ruby red, and her skin to a scaly blue. Her height changed too, and Charlotte found herself staring at a scared little girl maybe younger than herself. She smiled in astonishment.

The young shapeshifter looked at her in fear, expecting her to be screaming and running away like others who had seen her in her natural form, but she didn't.

"You're not... scared of me?" she asked, surprised and feeling a rising hope within her.

"I always believed I couldn't be the only one in the world," Charlotte said softly. "The only person who was...different. And here you are."

Charlotte suddenly remembered her manners and offered her hand to introduce herself. "Charlotte Xavier."

The younger girl took it. "Raven."

Charlotte held her hand and realized how small and skinny she was from lack of food and nourishment.

"You're hungry and alone," she realized out loud.

Raven nodded.

Charlotte motioned to the entire kitchen. "Take whatever you want. We've got lots of food. You don't have to steal," Charlotte said.

Raven smiled at her generosity.

"In fact, you never have to steal again." Charlotte smiled warmly and Raven beamed at her.

Charlotte didn't read her mind in respect of her privacy. She couldn't imagine what the poor girl had been through in her young life, but she would make sure she had a happier life. She would be a big sister and protect her. They would no longer be alone in the world, Charlotte promised herself that as she wrapped her arms around Raven, her new sister. They were different, but they would never be alone.

000{{*}}000

Poland

Once Erik had woken up, he had woken up, he had been cleaned and dressed in a clean set of clothes. The whole time he had been wondering where his parents were and if they were alright. His face hurt from where the soldier had hit him from his gun but, and Erik tried not wince as he felt it.

Once he was cleaned and dressed, Erik had been taken to the head of the camp's quarters. The man had introduced himself as Dr. Klaus Schmidt, and he was a thin man with light brown hair, a thick mustache, and grey eyes with a pair of glasses. When he looked at Erik, the boy felt sick to his stomach.

Schmidt had music playing as he sat down in his desk chair. "Understand this, Erik," he said. "These Nazis, I'm not like them."

He began to open a bar of chocolate, continuing on. "Genes are the key, yes? But their goals? Blue eyes? Blonde hair? Pathetic."

He bit into a piece of chocolate before pushing the bar towards Erik. "Eat the chocolate. It's good. Want some?"

The last time Erik ever had any chocolate had been two years ago during Hanukkah when his father managed to smuggle a bar for Erik and his sister to share. Just thinking of that reminded Erik of his family and the worry he had earlier returned.

"I want to see my mama," he said to the doctor. He knew his father could handle anything, but his mother… she would be worried as well.

Schmidt took the chocolate bar back and licked his fingers. "Genes are the keys that unlock the door to a new age, Erik. a new future for mankind. Evolution. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Erik didn't understand so he shook his head.

Schmidt continued, "It's a simple thing I ask of you. A little coin is nothing compared to a big metal gate, is it?"

Erik swallowed painfully hard and tried not to show his fear. He didn't know how he had been able to bend the gate. He knew it was extraordinary, but how could he do it again? He had to try. He focused hard on the metal coin Schmidt had laid out on his desk, willing it to move. He reached out like he did with the gate but nothing. The coin remained still. Erik was dismayed, and from Schmidt's expression he knew that the doctor was disappointed.

"I tried, Herr Doctor," Erik apologized. "I can't… I don't… It's impossible."

Perhaps the bending gate was something else entirely.

He looked down in shame as Schmidt tsked. "One thing I can say for these Nazis is that their methods produce results. I'm sorry, Erik." He rang the bell on his desk.

The office door was opened, causing Erik to turn around. Two soldiers came in, dragging a woman in a blue striped dress. Erik's heart leapt to his throat. It was his mother!

"Mama!" he cried. He ran to her arms.

She was filthy, her graying auburn locks gone replaced by a red cloth wrapped around her head, and there were bags under her eyes. Her state worried Erik, but he was so relieved to know that she was still alive, and happy to finally be in her arms again.

"My darling," she whispered before wrapping her arms around her son. Erik loved the warmth and feeling of love and protection he felt in his mother's arms.

"Are you alright?" his mother asked him.

Erik didn't have the chance to answer her before he was shoved out of her arms, and she was pulled away from him. Erik turned back to Schmidt, the tension he had felt since he first came in here returned.

"Here's what we're going to do," Schmidt explained as he pulled a gun out of one of his desk drawers. "I'm going to count to three, and you're going to move the coin. You don't move the coin, I pull the trigger."

He pointed the gun at Erik's mother. "Understand?"

Erik was so scared and a desperation filled him as he tried to focus on moving the coin again.

"One…"

Erik looked at his mother. "Mama."

She looked worried and there was a hint of fear in her eyes, but also faith. Faith and love for him. "You can do it," she said.

Erik concentrated harder and harder, but the coin wouldn't move.

"Two…"

He glanced back again. The soldiers released his mother and stepped back. "Everything is alright," she said, trying to assure him. Erik focused on the coin again, hearing his mother's reassurances as he focused and concentrated with all his might to will the coin to move. _Move! Please move! Please!_ The coin remained unmoved.

"Three."

A shot then a thud.

Erik looked numbly behind him, knowing what he'd see, but compelled to look back. There was his mother, his sweet, loving, and compassionate mother Edie Lehnsherr crumpled on the floor like a ragged doll. He could remember once when he was little before the war walking home from school with his little sister Ruth. they came into the kitchen to their mother's singing as she baked her delicious apple strudels. She had smiled lovingly at them, and they had hugged her despite the flour covering her, and she caressed their cheeks. "Mein Lieblings."

Now she's dead. Ruth's dead. And for all Erik knew his father was dead as well.

Grief overwhelmed him, but something stronger than that followed it.

Anger.

Rage.

As he looked at Schmidt he wanted the man-No- monster to suffer. Power surged through him. The same power he realized that made him bend the gate in the first place. The metal bell Schmidt had rung smashed flat.

"Yes! Wonderful!" Schmidt exclaimed in delight.

Erik roared and raged. He felt the metal cabinet of files and it crumble, imagining it as Schmidt.

Schmidt was smiling excitedly as Erik lashed out. "Excellent!"

Erik looked at the soldiers who had brought his mother to him to be slaughtered like a lamb. They were no better than Schmidt for following him. Erik felt the metal in their helmets as they looked at the boy in fear. He squished their helmets into their skulls even as they screamed. The whole time all the metal in Schmidt's medical lab rumbled as Erik killed the men until they stopped moving. Erik screamed in anguish, feeling the power within him move everything that was metal in the room fly like a tempest and destroying everything in its path until it stopped.

Now that the anger was gone all that was left was Erik's grief as he looked at the destroyed room before him.

Destroyed just like he was inside.

He sobbed. The tears he had been holding since the loss of his sister fell along with the fresh ones from his mother's death. They were gone. Dead. his mother was dead because he couldn't move a single coin. It was all his fault. If only he had tried harder. Moved that coin. Stopped the bullet that killed her.

Schmidt placed his hand on Erik's shoulder, very pleased at what Erik had shown with his powers. "Outstanding, Erik. so we can unlock your gift with anger. Anger and pain," he said opening the lab doors and bringing Erik along with him to look closer at the wrecked room. Sobs continued to escape Erik, barely registering Schmidt's words. "You and I… we're going to have a lot of fun together."

The words sent a shudder through Erik. schmidt was smiling as he placed the coin that had costed Erik his mother's life into his hand. Schmidt patted his shoulder and left him in his office with the corpses of his mother and the two men Erik had killed, and the wreckage of all the metal he had thrown.

Erik looked at the coin in his hand as tears fell down his cheeks. This tiny thing out of all the big pieces of metal he had just manipulated that had caused more suffering than he could have ever imagined. He had lost his mother because he hadn't been strong enough to move it. He was all alone now, a prisoner, but he promised himself he would never be weak again. He would become more powerful and stronger, and he would kill Schmidt.

Heaven and hell help anyone who stood in his way.

000{{*}}000

 **And there you have it! The first chapter of Mind and Metal. I hope I did the camp scenes justice. I can remember back in high school reading Elie Wiesel's "Night" and Gerda Weissmann Klien's "All but my Life" on their experiences during the Holocaust so I wanted to make those scenes accurate. R.I.P. to all the souls who have suffered in the Holocaust.**

 **I'll try to update as often as I can this summer between my Skywalker Adventures series, and show you some of my ideas. Please let me know if I'm off to a good start.**


	2. First Class: Chapter 1

**And here's the next chapter. Thank you everyone for reading this and a thank you to Amirachan88 for reviewing and following.**

 **Chapter 1**

Geneva, Switzerland, 1962

214782.

The numbers were tattooed in Erik's skin forever branding him as one of the victims that had been sentenced to die, but survived. Eighteen years later and the horrors still followed him wherever he went.

After Schmidt killed his mother, Erik spent the next several months as his favorite lab rat. He endured experimentations both physical and mental. During that time, Erik had found out that his father had been sent to the gas chambers before Schmidt had sent for his mother, sealing the fact that he was an orphan alone in the world. At fourteen years old Erik Lehnsherr had survived one of the most horrifying events in history, enduring unimaginable tortures and having everyone he ever loved taken from him.

After several months of horror, Auschwitz had been liberated by the Allied soldiers, and Erik had finally been freed, but it wasn't the end of his struggles. After the war, he had tried to return to his childhood home in Dusseldorf only to find it in ruins and nothing left; so he traveled from place to place doing odd jobs for food and shelter until he left for America in 1949 to make a fresh new start. It was there Erik had discovered that Schmidt had escaped from the authorities after the war and was still out there. Memories of his mother's death and the brutal tortures Erik and many others had endured because of that monster flooded him, renewing his anger, and awakening the power he had hidden inside himself for years, and the desire for revenge against Schmidt.

Now, after years of hunting and preparing, Erik found himself in a hotel room in Switzerland, the coin that had costed him his mother's life floating between his fingers. He didn't know why he had kept the coin after all these years. Most likely as a reminder of the price of weakness and to never let that happen again.

He had grown much from the scared little boy he had been years ago. He was tall with broad shoulders, dark hair, and blue-green-gray eyes. His powers had grown too. Now that he knew how to use his gift he could move and manipulate metal at will. It had come pretty handy those last several years during his hunt.

Pictures of former Nazis hung on the wall that he had arranged. His last lead had provided him with some useful information and resources. He was getting closer. He could feel it.

He flung the coin into the sketch of Klaus Schmidt's face.

000{{*}}000

Oxford University, England

Raven watched in amusement as her sister Charlotte flirted with one of their fellow Oxford classmates. Her sister was beautiful and charming in her own way, but when she'd hit men with her intelligence on their "groovy" mutations… well. Although, tonight it seemed that this one was one of the few not intimidated by her intelligence.

Charlotte giggled as she sipped her drink Andy had gotten for her.

Since coming to Oxford, Charlotte and Raven had never had to buy a drink once given that they were among the few women on campus and any man was more than happy to buy one or both sisters drinks. It had sort of become like a game to them to see who could convince the guy to treat them. There was fun in flirting with them even though most of the men here treated women like they were inferior, but there were the few exceptions to them.

This man Andy whom Charlotte was talking to right now was very handsome with sandy blonde hair and unusual pair of eyes, "heterochromia" one green and one blue. She had always been a sucker for unique eyes.

She had just finished her explanation on Andy's mutated eyes when he smiled and offered his glass to her.

"Mutant and proud."

Charlotte clinked her glass with his.

"This mean I have to buy my own drink?" Raven said, coming up to Charlotte and Andy.

Andy looked at the beautiful blonde-haired woman before him, very different to the pretty dark-haired genius he was sharing a drink with. He looked at her figure appreciatively.

"For a beautiful young lady such as yourself? Absolutely not." He ordered a drink for her, and Charlotte introduced them.

"This is my sister Raven."

"There's two of you? Your sister was telling me how I was one of the first creatures to turn into a man," he said, grinning at Charlotte.

Charlotte grinned back. "That does sound more sexy."

"And what do you study, Raven?" Andy asked.

"Waitressing."

"Oh."

Raven didn't need to have Charlotte's telepathy to know his opinion of her had dropped. She let one of her eyes turn into an amber color.

Andy looked at her in surprise. "Oh, you have heterochromia too!"

"I'm sorry?" Charlotte asked, confused.

She then noticed Raven's different colored eyes. She could hear Andy's thoughts, wondering how he missed that detail, and how he could nail both sisters tonight. The former made her uncomfortable.

"Well, thank you Andy for the drinks, but I think it's time we called it a night," she told him before she left to get her coat, ignoring Andy's disappointed thoughts as Raven followed behind her.

As soon as they were outside, Charlotte finally spoke to her sister. "Did you do that on purpose?" she asked her.

"What?"

"You did didn't you?" How could her sister be so reckless to slip up like that in front of a stranger?

"I did not," Raven insisted. "You know I can't control it sometimes when I'm stressed."

"What could you be stressed about?" Charlotte asked, as they walked the streets towards their apartment.

"Mutant and proud," Raven scoffed.

"What?"

"Or does that only apply to pretty mutations or invisible ones like yours? But if you're a freak you better hide."

"Raven," Charlotte interrupted her tirade. "That's not what I meant. You just have to be careful who you reveal yourself to." Charlotte stopped her sister from going an further. "I'm not ashamed of you," she told Raven.

Raven shifted uncomfortably. "We agreed not to share our secret with anyone we don't trust."

It had been a pact the two of them had agreed on when Raven had become a part of Charlotte's family. Of course, they never really told anyone about their gifts. Charlotte's mother would have freaked out, Cain would have delighted in tormenting them even further, and Charlotte didn't want to think of the possibility of her step-father examining them like animals in his lab. So Charlotte and Raven never trusted anyone to tell their secrets to… yet.

Later that night as Raven was brushing her teeth she thought of the words Andy had said to Charlotte earlier that evening.

"Mutant and proud."

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Since the day she was born to present day, Raven's skin was still a dark blue, her hair an off-set red, and her eyes a bright amber color. Mutant and proud? Ha! If only.

She looked at her sister scribbling in her notes and concentrating. "If you were a guy, would you date me?" she asked.

"Sure, you're sweet, funny, and charming," Charlotte answered, flipping through her notes.

"Looking like this?"

Charlotte paused in her notes and looked up at her in her natural blue form. "Yes," she told Raven sincerely.

Raven looked at her disbelievingly.

Charlotte stood up from her desk and walked over to Raven, taking her hands. When they had reached their teen years like many girls, the sisters had gone through periods of low self-esteem in their looks; and having a step-brother like Cain who ridiculed them at every turn, and a neglectful mother like Sharon certainly hadn't helped matters. However, while Charlotte seemed to have grown out of it, Raven still felt insecure in her looks as she did when she was little before she met Charlotte.

"Raven, you don't need scores of men to make yourself feel beautiful. I know I don't say it as often as I should, but you are a beautiful woman, and I'm sorry the world can't appreciate that," Charlotte told her.

Raven looked at her and tried to smile. She could understand where Charlotte was coming from, but the feeling was still there.

Charlotte promised long ago not to read her sister's mind, but she knew her sister well enough to know she was still feeling downsided. She squeezed her hands. "I'll tell you one thing, Raven: you're going to meet a smart and nice guy who will love you not despite your looks but because of them."

Raven rolled her eyes. "If only."

"You will," Charlotte insisted. "Just like I'll meet a nice guy who isn't unnerved by my knowing his every thought."

That finally drew a laugh out of Raven, and Charlotte laughed with her, the atmosphere lifted a bit.

"You've been reading and watching too many romances," Raven said, grinning.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, grabbing her textbook before sitting down on their sofa. "Laugh all you want, but some of them do have accurate information."

Raven laughed again before she yawned. She got on the sofa and laid her head in her sister's lap. "I'm sleepy. Will you read to me?"

Charlotte sighed. "I can't. I have my thesis coming up. I have to study."

"Fine, read that. Your thesis always sends me right off," Raven said with her eyes closed.

Charlotte took a deep breath before narrating her thesis:

" _To Homoneanderthalensis, his mutant cousin, Homo sapiens, was an aberation. Peaceful cohabitation, if ever it existed, was short-lived. Records show, without exception, that the arrival of the mutated human species in any region was followed by the immediate extinction of their less evolved kin."_

Charlotte had barely made it through the first paragraph of her thesis when she heard her sister's soft snores in her lap. She smiled at the sight of her little sister sound asleep.

Ever since Raven had entered into her life, Charlotte's life had become better, brighter even though she still lived with her condescending mother, neglectful stepfather, and abusive step-brother. She finally had someone she could talk to and be true friends with. Raven had helped her through the hard times when her stepfather died in a fire, Cain left, and her mother drank herself into an early grave. Charlotte had taken her sister out of that mausoleum full of horrid memories to Oxford with her the moment she turned eighteen to start new lives away from the past's scars.

Charlotte had wanted to study genetics like her father Brian Xavier had before her, and to also understand more about what was happening to her and Raven. Soon she would be graduating as one of the few women to earn a doctorate's degree in genetics, and hopefully Charlotte would be able to make a difference in people's lives.

000{{*}}000

Erik walked down the streets dressed in a fine gray suit, hat, and overcoat, and carrying a briefcase to the bank where his appointment with the bank's president was at. He entered the bank and after introducing himself to the receptionist, had been directed to the president's office.

Greetings were exchanged, but behind the mask Erik showed he was seething. This man was one of Schmidt's associates, one who had profited off of stealing money from dead Jews, but Erik couldn't kill him yet because he knew where Schmidt was hiding.

After pleasantries had been exchanged, Erik pulled out the bar of gold in his briefcase. It was marked with the Nazi signature that Erik had taken from one the men he had interrogated recently.

The banker's eyes widened at the sight of it. "Possession of that gold is illegal. I should inform the police."

Oh, please.

"Let's not play this game." Erik wasn't in the mood.

"Where did you get it?" the banker demanded.

"A friend," Erik answered coldly. "He recommended your bank most highly." The man practically screamed ut at Erik as he strangled the man with his own pocket watch.

The banker nodded slowly. "I see. Do you know our terms, sir?"

"Yes, and you should know mine," Erik said as he picked up one of the trinkets on the desk. He smiled humorously at the banker before putting the object back down. "This gold is what remains of my people. Melted from their possessions. Torn from their teeth. This is blood money, and you're going to help me find the bastards responsible."

Erik could see the fear in the man's eyes as he reached for the alarm button under his desk in the worse stealth manner Erik had ever seen. He reached out with his power and used the metal in the man's watch to prevent him from reaching the button. Erik shook his head and tsk-tsked before letting go and letting the man hit himself in the head. The man was dazed for a moment before looking at Erik in fear.

"Don't touch that alarm." He got up and approached the man.

"I want Schmidt. Klaus Schmidt. Where is he?" he demanded.

The man looked terrified and tried to stammer out a lie. "O-Our clients don't p-provide addresses. We're not-"

"Not that sort of bank?" Erik interrupted angrily, grabbing the man's throat. How stupid did the man think he was?

He raised two fingers. The man's mouth was forced opened, and Erik smirked as the man looked at him in horror.

"Metal fillings, eh?" Erik realized. "Not gold. Worried someone might steal them?" he growled.

"Argentina!" the man cried out in pain and fear. "Schmidt is in Argentina! Villa Gesell! Please!"

Erik didn't let go of the metal in his mouth even as the man begged and pleaded. His eyes were wide with such fear as if he were staring at the devil himself.

He ended the man's suffering by finally pulling the filling out and landing it in his hand. The man stopped struggling, breathing heavily as he held his face in pain.

"Merci," Erik said, releasing the man.

He grabbed the gold and his briefcase, looking back at the banker. "I would love to kill you," he admitted coldly.

He started to leave. "So mark my words," he said over his shoulder. "If you warn anyone I'm coming…" he paused at the doorway. "I will find you."

He left the bank. His next stop was Argentina.

000{{*}}000

 **So what did you guys think? I thought that with Charles being Charlotte she would have more understanding as to what Raven is going through considering that all girls go through in terms of self-esteem in their looks, so I hoped you guys liked that output better. Stay tuned and let me know what you guys are thinking.**


	3. First Class: Chapter 2

**Thanks for tuning in to Mind and Metal. I might do a slight Xavier/male!MacTaggert. I'd think it'd be interesting having a little triangle (slightly though), but I promise you guys Charlotte/Erik will be the main event. Thanks.**

 **Chapter 2**

"Professor of Genetics: Charlotte Frances Xavier."

Charlotte smiled as she shook hands with the university's chancellor. The audience applauded as she received her doctorate, but it was her sister Raven sitting in the front row cheering for her that mattered the most. After years of studying and dealing with condescending remarks she finally had her degree. Having her sister here to share this happy moment made it wonderful for her. She only wished her father was here to see her.

After the ceremony, Charlotte and Raven walked outside arm and arm.

"So, how does it feel to be a professor?" Raven asked, grinning.

Charlotte groaned good naturally. "Don't call me that yet. It makes me feel old. Besides you don't get to be called a professor until you actually have a teaching position."

"I know, but it suits you. Professor Charlotte Xavier," Raven said.

Charlotte laughed. "Don't say that. Do say 'Let's go have a drink.'"

"Let's go have a drink," Raven said.

Both sisters laughed as they headed towards their favorite pub to celebrate, unaware of the pair of eyes that followed them.

000{{*}}000

Villa Gesell, Argentina

The air was hot and humid as Erik walked with his jacket thrown over his shoulder. He had been in Villa Gesell for several days now looking for any leads on Schmidt, but nobody had ever heard of Klaus Schmidt, not even recognizing the sketch Erik had of him.

Erik was getting frustrated. Somebody had to know something. He walked into a bar to get a cold drink. Maybe he'd run into somebody who'd know something.

The bar was practically empty with just the bartender and two older men drinking at a table.

Erik hung his jacket and hat on the coat rack and headed towards the bar, greeting the two men as he passed them. He ordered a drink as he sat down and waited for the bartender to make it..

His eyes roamed the bar, taking in the pictures of members, until his eyes landed on one in particular of three men on a yacht. Two of them were the same men at the table behind him, but it was the man in the middle who caught his attention. The face was younger without the glasses and mustache, but Erik recognized the shape of his face and his eyes. The eyes that haunted his nightmares, that grinned as they shot his mother and experimented on him.

Erik was forced to look away as the bartender presented his drink. "German beer," he said casually.

"Of course," the bartender said.

Erik began to sip his drink when he heard one of the men behind him speak.

"Yes, it's Bitburger. You like it?" he laughed.

Erik forced himself to act naturally as he finally remembered the two men sitting behind him. They had been two of Schmidt's trusted guards back in the camps. He could remember their horrible treatment to him and the other prisoners, mocking them, humiliating them, and beating them. He set the drink down and found himself smiling at the irony of the situation.

"The best," he answered the man.

He turned around to look at the men seated at their table. One was gray-haired and balding. The other still had his light brown hair with a mustache. They'd gotten old as did he, but he was no longer the little Jewish kid they tortured along with so many others.

"What brings you to Argentina?" he asked casually.

Baldy answered, "The climate. I'm a pig farmer." He laughed.

Erik grinned, but it was strained.

Mustache answered next. "Tailor. Since I was a boy. My father made the finest suits in Dusseldorf."

"My parents were from Dusseldorf," Erik said in fake surprise. He walked over towards them, carrying his drink.

Both men looked at him in surprise. "What was their name?" Mustache asked.

"They didn't have a name," erik, answered sitting down at their table.

Both men's smiles dropped and they exchanged a look.

"It was taken from them…" Erik continued. He clinked glasses with them, grinning maniacally. "By pig farmers and tailors."

Both men looked uncomfortable as they all drank from their glasses. Erik kept an eye on them both as they exchanged a worried glance over their glasses. In unison they set their drinks down.

In that moment, Erik turned his arm around and the two men saw the numbers tattooed on his skin. Their eyes widened in horrid realization.

Baldy drew his knife out and made a swing at Erik's neck, but Erik caught his arm and slammed it onto the table, ripping the knife out of his hand. He saw an inscription written on it.

 _Blood and Honor._

He looked at them. "Which would you care to shed first?"

"We were under orders," Baldy tried to plead.

Erik scoffed at the excuse he had heard many times over. "Blood then."

He stabbed the knife into Baldy's hand. Baldy screamed in pain and Mustache jumped out of his seat. The bartender came out, pointing a gun at Erik. "Freeze, asshole."

"Come on, shoot!"

With almost no effort at all, Erik made the metal gun point at Mustache against the bartender's will, relishing their looks of horror and fear, and fired. Mustache fell down in a heap. The bartender looked at him in horrid awe. Erik pulled the knife out of Baldy's hand, throwing it into the bartender's abdomen before making it fly back to him. He stabbed Baldy's hand again causing the man to release another painful scream. Erik brushed his sweaty hair back before picking his glass up and finishing his drink.

"Who… what are you?" Baldy whimpered.

Erik sat his empty glass down, staring at the man coldly. "Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster."

He turned back to the picture he saw earlier, getting up to look closer at it.

Caspartina

Miami

That was the name of the boat.

"And I'm looking for my creator."

He levitated the gun from the bartender's dead hands, grabbing it before turning around and shooting the last man dead.

000{{*}}000

Everybody laughed and cheered for Charlotte as she finished her drink. She felt a little light headed, but hey, it wasn't everyday a girl earned her doctorate degree after working and studying her ass off for over a decade.

Raven wrapped her arms around Charlotte in a bear hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," Charlotte sais, smiling. She looked at her empty glass. "I'll go get us another drink."

She headed towards the bar, trying not to stumble. She saw Andy grinning at her from the bar when a man stepped in front her. Charlotte stopped. He was slightly taller than her, and very handsome with short auburn hair, brown eyes, and a warm smile that created butterflies in her stomach. Perhaps she had too much to drink tonight.

"Congratulations, Professor," he said.

"Thank you," she said, a little stunned.

"You're presentation was very interesting," he said.

"You were at my presentation? How nice of you," she said, very happily. At least somebody wasn't bored enough to fall asleep during it. "Thank you very much."

"Maurice MacTaggert," the man introduced himself.

Charlotte shook his hand. "Charlotte Xavier."

"Do you have a minute?" he asked.

Charlotte smiled. "For a handsome fellow with a mutated MCR1 gene? I have five." She directed them to an empty table nearby.

"You see, I say MCR1 you would say "Auburn hair". It's a mutation," she explained as they sat down. "It's a very groovy mutation. Mutation took us from single-celled organisms to the dominant form-"

Maurice interrupted her. "I'm sorry. This may work great with the classmates, but I'm here on business."

"What?" Charlotte asked, confused. She had definitely had too much to drink.

"I really need your help," MacTaggert told her.

Something in his expression immediately sobered her up. "All right." What could he possibly want with a female geneticist such as her?

"The kind of mutations that you were talking about in your thesis, I need to know if they may have already happened." MacTaggert explained. "In people alive today."

Charlotte brought a hand to her temple and gently looked into his mind.

She saw him sneaking into a club, a CIA agent,

A woman turning into a shiny diamond like substance.

A red-skinned man who could teleport.

She felt her eyes widen in astonishment as she barely heard the man call to her in concern. She brought herself out.

"I think we should just talk when you're sober," he said, a little annoyed. "Do you have any time tomorrow?"

Charlotte looked into his eyes, no longer feeling tipsy from the alcohol. "Something tells me you already know the answer to your question," she said.

MacTaggert looked away in discomfort.

"This is very important to me," she said real seriously. "If I can help you, I will do my utmost."

The CIA agent smiled in gratitude. "Thank you."

Charlotte always knew she and Raven weren't the only mutants in the world, but to discover that there really were more out there… this could be the answer to the many questions she had gathered over the years.

000{{*}}000

CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

Maurice MacTaggert was a young CIA agent who was considered a hot headed rookie in the agency, Charlotte discovered, and he was desperate to convince his superiors the severity of dealing with this Sebastian Shaw who surrounded himself with powerful mutants. She could understand his plight which is why she was trying to help him even though his superiors refused to pay attention to her presentation.

"The advent of the nuclear age may have accelerated the mutation process. Individuals with extraordinary abilities may already be among us," she concluded, turning off her projection. "Thank you very much."

There was an abrupt silence. Her audience were looking at Maurice in disbelief.

"MacTaggert, you really think some crackpot scientist is going to make me believe in sparkly dames and vanishing men?" the director, John McCone Charlotte believed his name was sneered. "You just bought yourself a one-way ticket back to the typing pool. This meeting is over."

Maurice began to stand up, and Charlotte could feel the disappointment in himself. She honestly had been expecting this.

"Please, sit down, Agent MacTaggert," she said politely. After a decade she was quite use to dealing with sexist idiots. She had also learned how to deal with them.

"I didn't really expect you to believe, given how all you were able to think about during my presentation was what sort of pie they'd be serving in the commissary," she told them. She paused for a second. "It's apple pecan by the way."

She looked at Maurice. "I'm terribly sorry, but I haven't been entirely honest with you, love."

She looked sharply at the other men. "You see, one of the spectacular things my mutation allows me to do is that I can read your mind." She enjoyed their skeptical looks and struggled not to smile, already anticipating their looks of surprise.

"I've seen this before at a magic show," the other man, Stryker said arrogantly. "Next you're gonna ask us to think of a number between one and ten?"

Charlotte laughed, smiling sweetly. "No, Agent Stryker, although- I could ask you about your son, William, whom you were thinking about, which is very nice, but," she said, leaning forward. "I think I'd rather ask you about the Jupiter missiles America are currently placing in Turkey."

The agents looked at each other in pacicked alarm.

"She's a goddamn spy! You brought a goddamn spy!" McCone accused Maurice.

Chaos erupted as agents argued and shouted at one another.

Raven looked at her sister in worry. _Char?_

 _Now Raven._

Raven stood up and shifted into Agent Stryker's form, smirking as the room instantly went silent. All the agents' mouths were agape. Shock and disbelief radiated from their minds. Raven reverted to her natural blue form.

Charlotte smirked at the men. "How's that for a magic trick?"

The man in the back of the room who had been quiet during this whole meeting was the first to speak. "Best I've ever seen."

"I want them out of here," McCone demanded, pointing at Charlotte and Raven. "And locked down until I can figure out what to do."

The man in the back spoke up again. "My facility is off-site. I'll take them."

Charlotte made a quick scan of his mind and smiled. Another ally. Good. At least they wouldn't be thrown in a cell. Not that it would have been able to hold them.

As they were lead out of the meeting room, Charlotte heard Raven think to her. _That felt good._

Charlotte smiled. _It did indeed, but we're not going to his facility just yet._

000{{*}}000

Maurice MacTaggert was furious.

Shaw was out conspiring with the Russians and American traitors to start World War III, and instead of looking for him and stopping him, the director of the CIA was more concerned about locking up the mutants offering their help.

He vented as much to his partner Levene as they walked down the hallway. He had been in the agency for over a year now, and the people here still treated him like a rookie.

Levene bent down to drink from the water fountain when he froze all of a sudden, water pouring on his nose.

"Levene? Levene, what's wrong with you," Maurice asked.

 _Absolutely nothing,_ a voice spoke in his head. _I've just frozen him for a moment because I'd like to talk with you._

Maurice looked around in alarm and realized everyone in the hallway but him was frozen. He recognized the voice as Charlotte's.

 _It's good, isn't it? I'm as interested in this Sebastian Shaw as you are, and if you still want my help, meet me on the third floor of the parking garage._

Levene brought his face from the fountain, coughing, but Maurice was already gone.

000{{*}}000

As they walked in the garage, Charlotte listened as the CIA agent talked excitedly. "I've always known that there were people like you out there. I've been the laughing stock of this agency for years, but I knew it! You're going to love my facility."

"That's going to have to wait," Charlotte interrupted him.

The man looked at her, surprised. "Why?"

"Agent MacTaggert has a lead on Sebastian Shaw, and if we don't move now, apparently, we're going to lose him," Charlotte explained as Maurice pulled a dark car in front of them.

"What?"

"Not only can she read minds, she can communicate with them as well," Raven told him, getting in the back seat.

"Maurice and I have just had a lovely conversation," Charlotte said, looking at Maurice in the driver's seat.

"Yes, we did," Maurice confirmed.

The agent looked astounded. "That is incredible."

Charlotte smiled.

Then the agent looked ready to object. "But I cannot take you anywhere else without permission from upstairs."

"Would you like to see one more magic trick?" Charlotte asked.

"Okay."

"Get in the car," she ordered him.

"Good idea." He obediently went in.

The whole drive, Charlotte was smiling.

Yes, it felt so good to be open.

000{{*}}000

 **Thank you all! It makes me so pleased to see more and more people reading this. Next chapter will Charlotte and Erik's meeting. Yeah!**


	4. First Class: Chapter 3

**And here we go! Charlotte and Erik's first meeting!**

 **Chapter Three**

It was night time as the _Caspartina_ was docked. The water surrounding it was an endless abyss of black ink.

Erik was well hidden as he snuck aboard Schmidt's ship. It was practically effortless. The man had no security at all on his yacht. Erik was still cautious however, years of practice warning him of the possibility of a trap. He took out the knife he'd hidden in his boot, the same one he took off the dead men in Argentina, and followed the voices he heard at the end of the boat.

There was Schmidt, smug and well-dressed with two of his associates, a dark Puerto Rican man and a beautiful blonde woman dressed in white.

"Herr Doctor," Erik said.

The three of them stood to their feet.

"Little Erik Lehnsherr." Schmidt grinned.

Erik approached him, and the woman beside Schmidt narrowed her eyes at him. "He's here to kill you."

All of a sudden Erik felt sharp pain like knives in his head so severe he fell to his knees.

He saw flashes of himself as a little boy strapped to Schmidt's slab, conscious as the man poked and cut him.

He heard his mother's screams as she was taken from him.

The sound of the gunshot that ended his mother's life.

Desperation and determination filled him to stop it.

He grabbed the knife and threw it, intending to kill Schmidt and end him once and for all. But the knife was caught by the woman who had converted into a diamond like form. He got to his feet and charged, prepared to take her out to get to Schmidt. However, the woman easily overpowered him, pushing him off the ship and into the water.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte watched as the Coast Guard sent out their motorboats towards the _Caspartina_ , the yacht where Shaw was at. She tried to sense Shaw's mind and to see if there were any other's with him when she slammed into a mental wall. Not only that but she felt herself being pushed-no-shoved away into her own mind.

"I-I lost Shaw," she gasped. "I've lost Shaw. There's something blocking me. This has never happened before. I think there's someone like me on that ship."

"Like you?" Maurice asked.

Charlotte glanced at him. "Sorry, a telepath. This is incredible. I can feel her inside my mind. I'm very sorry, but I don't think I'm going to be any help to you tonight. I'm afraid you're on your own.

Helplessly, Charlotte watched in horror as tornadoes came from the yacht, most likely from another mutant, and swatted the boats like they were nothing but flies.

"Get inside!"

Charlotte found herself being led to safety by Maurice and the fellow CIA agent.

000{{*}}000

Erik watched as Schmidt's associate took out the boats. He struggled to stay afloat as he reached down and grabbed the ship's metal anchor, anger fueling him as he lifted it and its metal chain to the surface.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte stopped and gasped as she felt such an intense rage it made her head hurt.

"Charlotte? Are you alright?" Maurice asked, concerned.

"There's someone else out there!"

She pushed past them back onto the ship's deck to locate the mind.

"There!" She pointed to a speck in the water. Then she saw the ship's anchor rise before it plunged into the ship then wrapping itself around it, destroying it. She found the mind of the person doing this. She felt his fury, hatred, pain, and determination to take out Shaw.

She gasped in horrid realization.

Shaw was in a submarine, escaping, and the mutant was trying to stop it.

She watched as he was dragged through the water. If he didn't let go he would drown! Charlotte had to save him!

"Let go!" she screamed. "You have to let it go!" She turned to Maurice and the agent. "You've got to help him! Get someone in the water to help!" But both men stared at her in surprise. She continued to scream at the man in the water. "Let it go! You have to let it go!"

His head disappeared under the water. She could feel him losing air. She had to do something, and if no one else would… She threw off her coat, and ran across the deck and dove off into the dark depths.

000{{*}}000

Erik was surprised to feel arms wrapped around his chest and trying to pull him back, but he refused to let this person stop him. He nearly lost his breath when he heard a kind and gentle voice in his head.

 _You can't. You'll drown. You have to let go._

Charlotte couldn't believe he was being so stubborn. His anger and rage was pouring out so much her head was aching, but she couldn't let go of him. Couldn't let himself get killed. Without any control she saw his memories. A young boy being taken from his parents, subjected to horrific experiments, and watching his mother be shot in front of him by Shaw-Schmidt. She felt his pain, his agony, years of loneliness, and a fierce determination to stop Shaw-Schmidt. Erik Lehnsherr, she discovered his name was.

 _I know what this means to you, but you're going to die_ the voice told Erik urgently. _Please, Erik. calm your mind._

Reluctantly, Erik let go, watching as Schmidt escaped again.

The person began to drag him back to the surface, and Erik realized how exhausted he was and how desperately he needed air. The two mutants reached the surface and gasped for air.

Fury filled Erik at the person who stopped him from killing Schmidt.

"Get off me! Get off me!" He pushed his rescuer away from him. He turned around, and realized his rescuer was a woman!

"Calm down! Just breath!" Charlotte tried to calm him as his anger faded a little and into confusion. At least her head wasn't feeling like it could split. "We're here!" she screamed to the people on the ship.

"Who are you!" Erik demanded.

Charlotte spit water. "My name is Charlotte Xavier."

"You were in my head! How'd you do that?"

Charlotte could feel his fear and awe, and she brushed her wet locks out of her face. "You have your tricks, I have mine. I'm like you. Just calm your mind!"

Erik coughed water, and he finally got a proper glimpse of his rescuer's face. Despite the cold water, she had red lips, dark hair, and the bluest eyes Erik had ever seen on a person. "I-I thought I was alone."

Charlotte smiled, and Erik felt his heart stop for a moment.

"You're not alone. Erik, you're not alone."

000{{*}}000

As soon as they were fished out and brought back onto the ship, Charlotte 's sister flung her arms around her.

"Maurice told me what happened. What the hell were you thinking?" Raven hissed at her.

Charlotte held her close. _He was drowning and nobody was doing anything to help him. I had to do something,_ Charlotte thought to her.

She could sense that Raven still wasn't happy about it, but accepted her explanation. Charlotte nearly smiled at her sister's concern. She felt suspicion and distrust among the CIA agents and crewmen, and realized it was all directed at Erik.

Erik watched as the woman Xavier was embraced by another woman, a friend or close relative. Then he saw the suspicious looks on everyone else's faces, contemplating whether to trust him or not. Before he could do anything, Xavier was suddenly in front of him.

"It's alright. He's with us," she assured the agents.

Erik then realized how small this woman was compared to him, barely over five feet tall. He was amazed this woman had been able to pull him out from the water.

The agents were reluctant to trust Erik, but they trusted Charlotte. Charlotte finally relaxed when Maurice ordered towels and some fresh clothes be given to them. She suddenly realized her soaked clothing was clinging to her figure for everyone to see and her cheeks flushed red. She didn't dare look back at Erik until they were given blankets.

Now that he was calm, she could finally block everyone's thoughts from her mind. She wrapped her blanket around herself, and finally turned to face the man she just rescued. When she pulled him out of the water she had noticed his dark hair, strong features, and unique eyes of blue-green-gray. Now that he was out of the water she noticed how tall he was, looming over her short figure. He wore a wetsuit, and Charlotte was able to see the muscular form under it. She hoped nobody saw how red her face was.

"Sorry about all that. I'm Charlotte Xavier."

His face gave no emotion as he wrapped his blanket around himself. "Erik Lehnsherr."

Charlotte smiled softly at him. Now they had a proper introduction. "Nice to meet you, Erik."

Erik felt the urge to return her smile. He couldn't understand why this woman was being so nice to him, or how she could have this effect on him. She had been in his head. "You were in my head."

Charlotte nodded. "I'm telepathic. I can read and communicate with other people's minds. Don't worry, I'm not reading your's right now," she assured him. "What can you do?"

"Metal. I can move and manipulate magnetic fields," he told her.

"That's amazing!"

Erik wasn't use to any praise on his mutation except from Schmidt, but somehow he knew the praise coming from Miss Xavier was genuine.

"Let's get you guys into some dry clothes," the woman Xavier had been with earlier said, interrupting them.

Charlotte and Erik went inside, both knowing but not entirely how much their lives had just changed forever.

000{{*}}000

Covert CIA Research Base

Charlotte stepped out of the car with Raven, Maurice, and their new ally Erik as the director explained the situation to them. Charlotte wasn't sure what to make of Mr. Lehnsherr. There was something about him not just his need for vengeance.

"My mission has been to investigate the application of paranormal powers in military defense," the agent explained.

"Or offense," Erik spoke.

Charlotte glanced at him.

The agent continued as if he wasn't just interrupted. "This guy Shaw, Schmidt, whatever you want to call him, he's working with the Russians. We might need your help to stop him."

"Marvelous. So we're to be the CIA's new mutant division, yes?" Charlotte questioned him.

"Something like that."

000{{*}}000

They were taken into a room where a model of an advanced jet hung over their heads.

"It's a supersonic," a young man, probably Raven's age said, coming up to them. He was gazing at the model with pride. "The most advanced plane ever built. You should see it in real life. It's incredible."

"Hank," the director spoke, motioning towards Charlotte, Raven, and Erik. "These are the special new recruits I was telling you about. This is Hank McCoy, one of out most talented young researchers."

Charlotte was so excited. She had already done a quick scan of his mind, and knew him. She went up to him to shake his hand. "How marvelous. Another mutant, already here. Why didn't you say?"

The director looked confused. "Say what?"

Charlotte's smile dropped, and she suddenly felt awful. "Because you don't know."

She turned to Hank apologetically. The boy looked uncomfortable. "I am so terribly sorry."

Hank shook his head that it was alright.

The director looked at Hank, surprised. "Hank?"

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell," Hank explained.

"So your mutation is what?" Raven asked, coming forward. "You're super-smart?"

It was one of the first things Charlotte found out in his head. "I'll say. Hank here graduated Harvard at the age of fifteen."

Hank realized he was staring at the beautiful blonde woman before him. He felt tongue-tied, and he nearly stumbled as he said, "I wish that's all it was."

"You're among friends now, Hank," Charlotte told him kindly. "You can show off."

Charlotte saw Hank glance at her sister before bending down. She could feel his bashfulness as he took off his shoes and socks. His feet were like hands almost apelike. She found herself smiling in amazement and excitement.

Hank looked up to see Raven smiling like her sister, fading some of his earlier embarrassment away. He motioned everyone to move a bit, and everybody moved away to give him room. He jumped and his feet grabbed the head of the model with his feet, grinning as he hung upside down like a monkey. "Ta-da!"

Charlotte and Raven applauded as the agents looked in astonishment. Charlotte watched as her sister walked closer to Hank, staring at him in awe.

"You're amazing," she whispered.

Hank's face was blushing. "Really?

Charlotte grinned. It seemed that the young scientist was already infatuated with her sister, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual with Raven.

She wondered what Erik thought of this meeting another mutant, and turned to look at him only to find that he had come closer and was within a few feet of her. She promised him that she wouldn't read his mind without his permission, but she could see the look of wonder in his eyes, perhaps realization that they weren't as alone as he'd originally thought.

His eyes glanced at her, and Charlotte found herself smiling at him.

000{{*}}000

 **And there we go. This weekend was a little busy with work that I didn't have the chance to publish the other chapter, but I was half-way done with this other chapter so I thought "What the heck?" I hope this pleases everyone. I've been planning on doing a series of one-shots of Charlotte and Erik and the people they love in between scenes in the movies. It's going to be called "Silver, Scarlet, and Jade", and it's going to have a lot of my own ideas to this series, so stay tuned.**


	5. First Class: Chapter 4

**Well, honestly I wasn't expecting to by adding another chapter in so soon, but I couldn't stop writing. I really wanted to add more Erik and Charlotte scenes to this but that would have taken up too much time, so I'll probably add them to my one-shot series of "Silver, Scarlet, and Jade." I was happy to see everyone who's been reading this series, and I hope to impress you guys further. Thanks.**

 **Chapter Four**

It was easy to break into the director's office for Erik. It was also easy to find the file carrying all intelligence on Shaw.

Once he was able to get the file, he packed it into his briefcase and began to sneak out of the CIA facility. Shaw had escaped, but Erik would find him again. He had made it outside, but failed to notice a certain telepath out there as well.

In all honesty, Charlotte was expecting this which is why she had waited outside until he came out. The feeling of disappointment was still there as she watched him try to leave.

"From what I know about you, I'm surprised you managed to stay this long," she told him.

Erik stopped. He hadn't noticed the telepath hiding in the shadows as he stepped out of the building. How did she do that? He felt anger at her for trying to stop him again. He turned around to glare at her. "What do you know about me?"

Charlotte smiled with gentle regret and understanding. "Everything."

Erik narrowed his eyes, even though he suddenly felt vulnerable. "Then you know to stay out of my head."

He began to walk away again when Charlotte called out to him. "I'm sorry, Erik, but I've seen what Shaw did to you."

He stopped.

"I've felt your agony. I can help you."

That vulnerable feeling came back. He really hated that feeling, and he hated how this woman seemed to be able to provoke that feeling. That didn't stop the longing he had to believe her. Believe that someone like her could help a monster like him. He scoffed at that. He turned to look back at her. "I don't need your help."

"Don't kid yourself. You needed me last night," she reminded him, walking closer to him. "It's not just me you're walking away from. Here you have the chance to be part of something much bigger than yourself. I won't stop you from leaving. I could… but I won't."

Erik was taken aback.

Charlotte turned and headed back inside. "Shaw's got friends. You could do with some."

Erik stood there, thinking over her words. He never was good at making friends. Even as a boy he was kind of a loner if one didn't count one's sister, and he hadn't had the time or heart over the years surviving and planning his vengeance to make friends. Then he remembered the soft warm feeling he had meeting Charlotte Xavier, and her trusting him without question, treating him like she'd known him for years, despite being an experienced killer, and offering her friendship to him without expecting anything in return.

He felt a smile on his face, and was walking back into the facility.

Yeah, maybe he could do with some friends.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte listened as the CIA director explained the machine outside to her.

"Hank turned that radar installation into a transmitter. It's designed to amplify brain waves, so it could enhance your telepathic powers, help us find other mutants for our division."

It sounded wonderful, and Charlotte was intrigued to find out.

"What if they don't want to be found by you?" she heard Erik's voice.

Charlotte's heart leaped in surprise and delight. He didn't leave. "Erik, you decided to stay."

Erik found himself returning Charlotte's smile for a brief moment before turning towards the director. "If a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind," he told the director. "Charlotte and I find the mutants. No suits."

The director immediately objected to this. "First of all, that's my machine out there. Second of all, and more importantly, this is Charlotte's decision. Charlotte is fine with the CIA being involved. Isn't that right?"

Charlotte was looking at Erik, and he was looking back at her. She realized he was giving her permission to read his mind. He knew that anyone else coming towards the mutants would immediately backfire and intimidate the mutants. She found herself agreeing with him.

"No," she told the director. "I'm sorry, but I agree with Erik. We'll find them alone."

She saw that while Erik's expression hadn't changed, the emotion in his eyes had shifted, almost like… trust.

The director noticed the silent exchange between the telepath and the metal bender. "What if I say no?"

Charlotte tried not to laugh in amusement. "Then good luck using your installation without me."

000{{*}}000

Hank took them all up into the installation. The place felt like a honeycomb but with machines off to the side.

"I call it Cerebro," Hank told them. "As in Spanish for "brain". Okay, so the electrodes connect Charlotte to the transmitter on the roof. When she picks up a mutant, her brain sends a signal through a relay, and then the coordinates of their location are printed out here," he explained as everybody looked at it.

"You designed this?" Raven asked, a little in awe.

"Yeah," Hank answered, a little bashfully.

Erik studied the machine with caution until he saw Charlotte adjust the helmet onto her head. He could see the excitement in her eyes, and smirked in amusement. "What an adorable lab rat you make Charlotte."

"Don't spoil this for me Erik," she replied.

He chuckled. "I've been a lab rat. I know one when I see one."

Hank started checking the circuits in the helmet and made any other adjustments.

"Okay, great." He asked her, "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

"Don't touch my hair," she told him firmly.

"Okay."

As Hank went to the monitors to start the machine, Erik and RAven stood close to Charlotte, both concerned and cautious to trust the machine.

Charlotte smiled reassuringly at them, touched by their concern. The machine started, and Charlotte gasped, grasping the railing.

A million thoughts raced through her head. She heard the thoughts of millions of people going through their daily lives. She could hear their hopes, their dreams. All the good and all the bad.

It was amazing.

"It's working!" Hank exclaimed as the coordinates printed out.

Charlotte was smiling and laughing.

Raven was smiling as well, relieved.

Erik was still tensed, still unable to full trust the machine, but as he watched the growing smile on Charlotte's face, he slowly relaxed.

000{{*}}000

"Did I mention how uncomfortable I am with this?" Charlotte said as they headed towards the stripclub where their first potential candidate was at.

Erik smirked. "Once or twice. Why? You afraid?"

"No!" Charlotte denied instantly. She tugged her skirt a bit. Maybe she should have worn pants instead. "Just a little… concerned. I don't frequent stripclubs."

In Oxford, she and Raven would sometimes have to pass by a stripclub, and Charlotte could sense the lecherousness, shame, and depression that it would make her feel sick. But this was for business, to get a girl out of this place. Charlotte could handle this.

Some of the amusement left Erik as he watched the professor tug at her skirt. Women don't normally go into stripclubs, and it would cause some curiosity if she went in with him. Charlotte's skirt also showed some of her legs below the knee and they were nice. He suddenly felt uncomfortable at the prospect of other men looking at her lewdly, and hoped that she was keeping her promise not to look inside his head.

"If you don't want to come in I won't force you," he told her gently.

Charlotte was a little surprised at his suggestion. She smiled reassuringly to him. "It's fine. We'll just walk in, talk with her, hope she agrees to come, and walk out. Simple as that," she said as they neared it. "Besides, what could go wrong?"

Charlotte stuck close with Erik once they were inside, shutting out most of the other people's thoughts out of her head, and try to find their mutant all the while trying to relax even when several patrons eyed her like she was one of the dtrippers here. Luckily, Erik's glare was enough to discourage most men from coming near her.

They sat at the bar, and Charlotte almost envied Erik's ability to relax in this environment. The sooner they got out of here the better.

Charlotte found their mutant, Angel Salvadore, a beautiful and petite woman who seemed too young to be in a place like this. With a nudge towards Erik on where their mutant was, he held up a bill large enough to get them a private room..

Charlotte was surprised to feel a twinge of jealousy as the young mutant took the bill and flirted a little with Erik. Why would she be jealous? Erik was a friend, and the young woman was paid to be flirtatious to any man that paid her.

They both settled on the bed in the private room with an ice bucket that had a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Once Charlotte had a couple of sips, she felt more relaxed.

The mutant eyed them warily. "You know it's double for you and your girl, right?"

Charlotte felt herself blush at the implication, but found herself saying, "That won't be necessary."

"No," Erik agreed. "We were thinking… we'll show you ours, if you show us yours."

"Baby, that is not the way it works around here," Angel told him impatiently.

Erik snapped his fingers, and the ice bucket levitated in the air for him. "More tea, Liebling?"

"Why thank you." Charlotte allowed him to refill her glass as Angel stared at them.

"My turn," she said. She undid her top to reveal her wings, fluttering them, and hovering above the ground.

"How would you like a job where you get to keep your close on?"

000{{*}}000

Their next candidate was a taxi driver Armando Munoz.

Charlotte was able to find him and call for his specific taxi. She and Erik settled into the taxi as the mutant looked at them through his rearview mirror.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Richmond, Virginia, please," Erik said.

"Right, so you want the airport? The station? What?" the driver asked, confused.

"No, we were rather hoping you would take us all the way," Charlotte replied.

"That's a six hour drive," he warned.

"Well, that will give us plenty of time to talk," Erik said before he used his powers to turn the meter.

The driver looked at them stunned.

000{{*}}000

Their next candidate was an inmate in a high security prison by the name of Alex Summers.

"What does the government want with a guy like Alex Summers?" the warden questioned them as he led them to Alex's cell. "Hope you're not planning on putting him with others. First guy I ever met who actually prefers solitary confinement."

He acted as though Alex Summers was an insane monster, but all Charlotte saw when the cell door open was a too young man with eyes that had seen too much, and were scared at the thought of hurting someone, despite the cold and suspicious look he gave to Charlotte and Erik.

Though reluctant to trust them yet, Alex agreed to go with them to get out of prison.

000{{*}}000

For their next candidate Charlotte and Erik found themselves in an aquarium where Sean Cassidy liked to spend his afternoons in. they had split up to cover more ground.

Charlotte found herself looking at one of the displays when she heard footsteps behind her. A quick scan of the mind confirmed that he was their mutant.

"Crazy, huh?" Sean said, standing right beside her. "You like fish, I like fish too. Maybe we should get a bite sometime, and talk about it."

Charlotte glanced at him, amused. He had to be a decade younger than her. "That's very sweet of you, but I 'm here on business. We could still get a bite to eat, so we can talk about your mutation, but I have a friend who will be joining us," she said, her eyes glancing behind them.

Sean turn around only to come face to face with Erik who was taller than him, and had a cold glare that scared Sean a little.

Charlotte just grinned in amusement.

000{{*}}000

One of their last recruits was an older man in a seedy bar smoking a cigar.

They approached him on either side.

"Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr."

"Charlotte Xavier," Charlotte introduced herself.

"Go f*** yourselves," the mutant told them, not even glancing at them.

Charlotte sighed in disappointment as she left the boy in annoyance, followed by Erik.

"You alright?" Erik asked.

Charlotte nodded. This wasn't the first refusal they'd dealt with. "I'm fine. I'm use to men brushing me off."

Erik frowned but didn't push the topic as they got into their rental car.

000{{*}}000

They were in D.C. in between their travels, looking over the capitol at the Lincoln memorial where they had been playing chess. It was a game they had discovered that the other enjoyed playing as much as they did.

These last few weeks had been amazing for Charlotte. Traveling all over the countryside, looking for mutants… it had been the most fun she had in a long time. The best part was getting to know Erik, the real Erik. Not the tough facade he'd put up front, or the memories she had seen of him as a boy, but the real Erik Lehnsherr. She learned he took his coffee with two sugars and a splash of milk, he liked listening to piano music, and that he once had a sister named Ruth.

For Erik, although he would never admit it out loud, these last few weeks had made him happy for the first time in a long time. For the first time since his mother's death, he didn't feel so alone. Spending time with Charlotte during their road trip he had come to know and care for her as a true friend. He learned that she loved tea compared to coffee, her favorite book was "The Once and Future King" because her father use to read it to her when she was a little girl, and that she once had a stepfather and stepbrother in her life. Not only that, but he had seen her compassion and hopes for the future. She was pure and genuine even if she was a little naive about mankind.

"I can't stop thinking about the others out there," Charlotte admitted, breaking the silence that had fallen on them. "All those minds that I touched. I could feel them. Their isolation, their hopes, their ambitions. I'm telling you, this is the beginning of something incredible, Erik. We can help them."

"Can we?" Erik asked. Her idealism was nice, but Erik was thinking about his childhood and what it meant to be different. "Identification, that's how it starts, and it ends with being round up, experimented on, eliminated."

"Not this time," Charlotte disagreed. "We have common enemies: Shaw, the Russians. They need us."

"For now," Erik replied.

Charlotte frowned. She had been a little girl at the time of the War, but she later learned the atrocities that had been committed during that time. Simply knowing about it and imagining all the people who suffered during it made her upset, but remembering the memories she had seen of Erik and the horrors he'd been through made her sick to her stomach. She knew his doubts and concerns stemmed from his childhood traumas, but she wished he could see the other side of things.

"It won't be like the Holocaust," she told him. "If we don't have faith that things will be better, what do we have?"

"My parents had faith in our leaders and they ended up losing everything. My mother had faith in me, and she was killed anyway," Erik said, looking at Charlotte. "Faith doesn't always win, Liebling."

Charlotte returned his stare. "And violence never brings peace."

Both were silent, staring at each other in a small battle of wits they always had everytime the topic was brought up. Both were too proud and stubborn to relinquish their beliefs and it usually ended with both of them turning away, letting the topic go for now, but never forgetting it.

000{{*}}000

 **Well, what do you guys think? I'm trying to stay true to Erik and Charlotte's characters, and am a little worried that I'm not, so please let me know what you all think.**


	6. First Class: Chapter 5

**And here's the latest chapter. I'm pleased to say it came out better than I'd hoped so I hope guys all like it. Last night was a disaster for me, I was babysitting my little sister when she started getting sick and I had to take care of her and clean up all her messes. Today was suppose to have been her graduation from kindergarten, but she and my mom were up all night last night and I had to take my other sister to school. So let's hope the weekend gets better.**

 **Chapter 5**

After leaving the children in the facility's rec room, Charlotte and Erik attended a meeting with the CIA. Intelligence had been gathered to know that Shaw was meeting with a Soviet general in Russia. Director McCone was reluctant but willing to work with the mutants to capture Shaw, but it was Stryker who openly displayed his disgust at the thought of working with a bunch of "freaks".

Charlotte knew without reading his mind that the agent's words infuriated Erik, and she had to discreetly grab his hand under the table to keep him from lunging at the man. She didn't like Stryker eiter, considering he reminded her of Cain and his disgust towards mutants, but she'd learned over the years that to get things done one had to be willing to work with even the most disdainful people. She was relieved when the meeting finally ended.

"The plane for Russia leaves in an hour," Maurice told them as they headed towards the rec room.

"I'm telling you, these kids are not ready for Shaw," Erik said to Charlotte.

"I think they're going to surprise you. They're an exceptional bunch-" Charlotte stopped when she heard music blaring loudly.

"What the hell?" Maurice said out loud.

The three of them walked over towards the rec room only to find a huge wreck. The statue had been cut in half with burnt marks all over the courtyard, the room's window had been shattered, and the kids seemed to be having the time of their lives. Angel was flying around the room, Hank was hanging from the ceiling lights, Raven was dancing on one of the couches, and Sean and Alex were hitting Darwin with chairs and bats.

Charlotte couldn't believe it. They left them alone for barely half an hour. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them disappointedly.

"What are you doing?!" Maurice shouted.

Everybody stopped what they were doing. Raven and Angel settled down on the ground, Hank dropped from the ceiling, and the other boys stopped trying to hit Darwin.

"Who destroyed the statue?" the agent demanded, like a parent who caught his kids hit a ball into the neighbor's window.

"It was Alex," Hank immediately answered.

Alex looked at him betrayed while a couple of giggles escaped Raven and Angel.

"No, Havok," Raven interjected, grinning. "We have to call him Havok. That's his name now. And we were thinking," she said coming closer to them.

"You should be Professor X." She pointed at Charlotte first.

Then she pointed at Erik. "And you should be Magneto."

"Exceptional," Erik replied stoically.

The smiles disappeared.

"I expect more from you," Charlotte said.

Somehow that made the children feel more chastised than Maurice's shouting or Erik's silence could.

000{{*}}000

As their plane headed for Russia, Charlotte sat down next to Erik.

"Well, the children promised to behave, and to help clean up the messes they made at the facility. I trust they will keep it," she said.

Erik looked at her. "How? Did you threaten to send them all to bed without dinner?"

Charlotte chuckled, shaking her head. "Very funny, but no. They're good kids. A little rambunctious, but good kids."

Charlotte leaned back in her seat. "Hope parenthood isn't as complicated as that."

"At least they're comfortable with you," Erik said. "And they respect you."

Charlotte glanced at him. "They respect you too. You just don't see it."

Erik said nothing.

Charlotte closed her eyes. "You should get some sleep. It's a long flight to Russia."

She didn't realize her head had slipped and rested on Erik's shoulder, but Erik did. She looked so peaceful, so trusting, and beautiful.

It took awhile before she finally fell asleep.

000{{*}}000

Russian Military Retreat

They were crowded in the truck as they headed towards the retreat. Erik and Charlotte heard tapping and they lifted the wooden latch to where Maurice and Levene were.

"We have a problem."

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm so sorry. This wasn't on the map," Maurice explained.

Charlotte and Erik looked past their heads to see the roadblock up ahead with Russian soldiers guarding it.

"No matter what happens, act normally. I'll take care of the rest," Charlotte told them.

They closed the latch, and Charlotte turned to the rest of the men. When she explained her plan to them, she could sense the skepticism, but also fear so they agreed with her plan.

The truck stopped, and they could hear Levene conversing with one of the soldiers in Russian. A couple of dogs barked. The men and Erik grew tense.

Charlotte stood up. "Easy. Stay calm," she whispered.

They heard the doors unlock, and everyone held their breaths as the doors were flung open.

Erik saw Levene's surprised expression and the soldier standing next to him. He glanced at Charlotte beside him, a look of concentration on her face.

"It's empty!" the soldier told his comrades.

Erik felt a wave of relief. The doors were closed, and Charlotte sat down in her seat, letting out a relieved breath. Erik patted her leg.

They remained undiscovered so far, and the truck continued on towards the retreat.

Once they reached their destination, Charlotte, Erik, and the CIA agents took out their binoculars and watched as a helicopter arrived, bringing not Shaw, but his associate Emma Frost.

Erik looked angry. "Where's Shaw?"

"I don't know," Charlotte answered. "But if she's a telepath and I read her, she'll know we're here. Let me try something else."

Focusing, she dove into the mind of one of the estate's guards, and watched the exchange between Frost and the Russian general.

"Shaw sends his apologies, but he's indisposed. He asked me to come in his place. And between you and I, honey, I'm a lot better company," she heard the blonde telepath tell the general.

Charlotte shook her head. "He's not coming." She released the soldier's mind and turned to Maurice. "So now what, boss?"

"Now, nothing," Maurice answered. "We're here for Shaw. Mission aborted."

Erik threw his binoculars down. "The hell it is!"

Maurice stopped him. "Erik!"

"She's his right hand woman," Erik snapped at him. "That's good enough for me."

"The CIA invading the home of a senior Soviet official? Are you crazy?" Maurice asked, incredulously.

"I'm noe CIA." He took off.

"Erik!" Charlotte snapped, but he was long gone.

She and the agents watched as the barbed wire attacked and wrapped itself around the guards.

"He's going to start World War Three single-handedly!" Levene growled.

"We have to do something," Maurice said.

"Like what?" Levene demanded. He turned to their boys. "We're moving out!"

"You can't!" Charlotte tried to protest.

She and Maurice watched as Erik stormed the grounds, taking out any guards that got in his way with their own weapons.

Charlotte turned to Maurice. "I'm sorry. I can't leave him."

"Charlotte-" But she had already taken off after Erik.

Charlotte ran as fast as she could, only stopping when she heard the guards whimpering in pain. "Damn it, Erik."

These men were just following orders. They didn't deserve this. Their faces were bleeding from the barbed wire, and their pain and fear nearly overwhelmed Charlotte.

"Be calm."

She kneeled down beside them. She picked the language from their minds. "Be calm. Forget my face."

She put them to sleep, out of their suffering. She continued after Erik.

 _Erik! Wait!_

She made it inside the estate and nearly collided with Erik. She paused to catch her breath. Then after finding where the general and Miss Frost were, they burst into the room.

The general was kissing and caressing the air, most likely in some illusion. Charlotte looked in disgust. Emma Frost was relaxing patiently in a chair near the bed in her underwear.

Charlotte exchanged a surprised look with Erik before turning back to the woman. "Nice trick."

The general was released from the illusion. He looked at them surprised. "Who are you?" he demanded, drawing his gun out.

"Go to sleep!" Charlotte ordered. The general collapsed onto his bed unconscious.

Frost stood up and her beautiful form turned into diamond like.

Charlotte tried to look into the rival telepath's mind. "You can stop trying to read my mind, Sugar."

Charlotte grimaced in pain as she was shoved out of her mind.

"You're never going to get anything when I'm like this," Frost told her.

Charlotte glanced at Erik. His eyes were on the telepath, ready to pounce as soon as she made a move.

Frost tried to run, climbing onto the table between Charlotte and Erik, but they caught her, dragging her back to the foot of the bed and forcing her down. Erik used the metal in the bed frame to keep her down.

"So then you can just tell us," he told her. "Where's Shaw?"

The metal tightened, but Frost remained quiet, glaring at Erik and the professor. She fought her restraints. Erik wrapped bars around her neck.

"Erik?" Charlotte asked.

The metal tightened around Frost, preventing her from moving as it began to choke her. Charlotte could see the fear in the woman's diamond-like eyes as she struggled to breath, and felt her mental shields beginning to crack. "Erik, that's enough."

Erik shook his head. This woman could read minds. She saw what Shaw did to him, and she continued to serve at his side. She deserved to suffer.

Charlotte grew more tense and more worried as Erik ignored her, and Frost struggled. The telepath's shields cracked further, and Charlotte could feel her pain and fear. Charlotte became fearful as the woman's neck began to crack, the more pressure Erik applied.

"Erik, that's enough!"

Erik saw the neck beginning to crack and knew if he continued, he would kill her before she gave them anything useful. With reluctance, he released her.

She shifted back into her human form, breathing deeply, but refusing to show how shaken up she was.

"All yours," Erik said to Charlotte, sitting down. "She won't be shifting into diamond form again, and if she does, just give her a gentle tap."

Charlotte knelt down, and despite Frost's earlier behavior, gently and politely looked into her mind. They had to treat the enemy fairly.

 _She saw missiles in Cuba._

 _War of America against Russia._

 _Nuclear war destroying the planet._

 _Fire burning at her skin, ash on her tongue, the smell of death._

 _Cities in ruins._

 _Humans dying._

 _Mutants surviving._

 _The worse in charge._

" _We are the children of the atom. Radiation gave birth to mutants. What will kill the humans will only make us stronger."_

Charlotte was horrified.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Frost asked.

Charlotte turned to Erik. "This is worse than we previously imagined." She looked back at the other telepath. "We're taking you with us. CIA will want to question you themselves."

The woman shrugged. "I doubt it. They have bigger things to worry about right now."

Charlotte frowned. What was Shaw up to?

000{{*}}000

After getting all the information she could out of Frost, Charlotte and Erik took her to the CIA agents waiting for them out in the woods.

Of course, after Charlotte insisted that they at least let Frost put on some clothes since it was cold outside, and let the woman have at least some dignity before she was placed in CIA custody.

Erik reluctantly agreed, keeping an eye on the blonde telepath in case she took advantage of Charlotte's kindness. Although her compassion was endearing, Erik didn't think she should waste it on those who didn't deserve it. Luckily, Frost put on her clothes without incident, and Erik bound her wrists before they left.

The CIA agents were relieved to see them both alive, and happy at the consolation prize. So as not to take any chances, they immediately sedated the blonde woman so she wouldn't pull any tricks which sort of relieved Charlotte since she had been concentrating on making sure the other telepath didn't succeed in mind controlling anyone. She felt physically and emotionally exhausted. Tricking the guards, chasing after Erik, battling Frost, keeping Erik from killing Frost, amd reading and preventing Frost from escaping had taken their toll on her. She couldn't wait to get on the plane, have a cup of tea, and sleep until they made it back home to see how the kids were doing. She missed Raven and hoped everyone was getting along okay.

"You look tired," Erik commented, noticing the exhaustion and fatigue in Charlotte.

Charlotte smiled tiredly. "I'm fine. Besides, chasing you all day would wear anybody down."

Erik rolled his eyes in amusement.

Charlotte suddenly felt a sharp, burning pain flare through her skull, causing her to hold her head and fall to her knees, screaming in agony, and startling everybody around her.

"Charlotte?!" Both Erik and Maurice shot to her side, but Charlotte wasn't paying attention to them.

Her focus was millions of miles away on the connection between her and her sister Raven as something so horrible happened Charlotte could feel Raven's distress all the way here in Russia. In all their lives Charlotte had never felt her sister more petrified in her life.

"Charlotte, are you alright?" Maurice asked.

"Charlotte, what's happening?" Erik gripped her wrist.

Charlotte didn't pay attention to them.

 _She saw through Raven's eyes men falling hundreds of feet to their deaths, sounds of shots fired, the children's growing fear as the men around them were slaughtered._

 _She felt men being burned alive, their blood-curdling screams echoing in her ears, the smell of death penetrating her nostrils. Until it all stopped. At least for a moment._

Charlotte was breathing heavily, not seeing the worried looks of Erik, Maurice, and the men surrounding him.

 _Like a fizzing radio she saw Shaw come towards them, talking to them, offering them something. She saw Angel go with Shaw, felt the sense of betrayal everyone was feeling._

 _She saw Darwin and Alex's attempt to trick Shaw, Darwin trying to fight Shaw until Shaw slipped energy down Darwin's throat._

 _The pain she felt Darwin was in was worse than before. Like the flames that had licked her when she was a child in her stepfather's lab before he died saving her. This was worse as she felt the flames burn her from the inside until Darwin's mind went out like a candle._

 _And suddenly it all stopped._

Charlotte was gasping for breath, and she would have fallen all the way on her face had Erik and Maurice not have been holding onto her on either side. Charlotte couldn't see as tears blurred her vision and streamed down her face.

"Charlotte, what happened?" Erik's voice snapped her out of it.

It took several tries, but Charlotte managed to tell them of the attack at the facility and the losses they had sustained. The agents looked grimm at the news.

"We need to radio in and get the full report," Levene said, obviously shaken from what he had just heard.

Charlotte got up shakily and ran deep into the woods away from everyone as fast as she could.

"Charlotte!" Erik chased after her.

Charlotte stumbled as she went further into the woods. She could still feel Darwin's death and all the people around them. She thought of her sister Raven, Hank, Alex, and Sean alone and frightened.

"Charlotte!" Erik followed her. She wasn't going too fast for him. She had short legs and was exhausted. He caught up to her, grasping her arm and pulling her to him, wrapping his arms around her.

Charlotte held on to Erik as she sobbed into his jacket. She thought of Darwin and the funny conversations they had in his taxi as they drove to Richmond, and how easily he took on the big brother role among the children. And now he was dead. Dead because she found him and brought him to this.

"It's my fault," she sobbed.

Erik pulled away and held her face. "Charlotte, how on Earth is this your fault?"

"I found them. I put them all in danger by bringing them-" Charlotte sobbed.

"Charlotte, this is not your fault!" Erik told her. "Don't even think that way!"

"But-"

"No buts. They knew what they were getting into when **we** explained the situation to them. It was all Shaw, not you. Do you understand?" he asked.

Charlotte swallowed, not trusting her voice, and nodded. _Please just hold me._

And so he did, letting her continue to cry until she had no more tears, and they just stood there, holding on to one another.

Charlotte wished that they could stay like this forever. She felt warm and safe wrapped in Erik's arms.

Sadly, they had to go back, but Charlotte held onto Erik's hand, refusing to let go. Even when the agents looked at them curiously, and even when they were on the plane back to the United States, not once did Charlotte let go of Erik's hand.

000{{*}}000

 **Well, I hope you all enjoyed that. The next update will probably be on Monday, maybe Tuesday. Thank you. Let me know what you all think of this. I love reading people's reviews.**


	7. First Class: Chapter 6

**Well, thank you all so much for waiting so patiently. This weekend was so busy and exhausting what with work and family. I hope this long chapter makes up for it. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 6**

When they made it back to the facility, Charlotte could see blocks of cement littering the ground, soldiers patrolling and securing the perimeter, and the facility itself looked torn up from the inside. The sight did not help her anxiety at all.

Finally, the car stopped and Charlotte wasted no time getting out to find the children.

Raven was sitting beside Hank, Alex, and Sean, still in shock of the events that had happened the night before.

"Raven!"

Raven looked up to see her sister running to her, Erik and Agent MacTaggert following behind her. She stood from the bench and the sisters hugged each other, both relieved and glad to see the other at least physically alright.

When they pulled away, Charlotte turned to the others. "We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately," she told them. It had been discussed and debated on the plane ride back here, but Charlotte had refused to be swayed by Maurice or even Erik. She would not risk the children's lives anymore.

"We're not going home," Sean told her.

"What?"

The teenager looked at Alex. "He's not going back to prison."

"He killed Darwin!" Alex reminded her angrily. He didn't have to.

Charlotte was firm on her decision. "All the more reason for you to leave. This is over."

"Darwin's dead, Charlotte," Raven spoke. "And we can't even bury him."

Everyone was silent, Charlotte closed her eyes and the boys looked down in grievance.

It was Erik that broke the mournful silence. "We can avenge him."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Erik, a word please?" It was not a question as Charlotte pulled him aside to talk to him.

"They're just kids," she told him softly.

"No, they were kids," he corrected her, keeping his voice low. "Shaw has his army. We need ours."

Charlotte wanted to argue with him over this, but this wasn't the time nor the place for it. She looked back at the children who a few days ago seemed happy, excited, and innocent kids, but who now looked at her with the resolve of adults ready to fight. Charlotte didn't like this, but she found that she had little choice. They had to do this, but they would do it right.

"We'll have to train," she told them. She could see their slight surprise and hope in their eyes, and she could feel Erik's eyes on her. "All of us, yes?"

"Yeah," Alex agreed. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Well, we can't stay here," Hank spoke up. Everyone looked at him. "Even if they reopen the department. It's not safe. We've got nowhere to go."

He was right, but not entirely. Charlotte knew the perfect place to go. "Yes, we do."

000{{*}}000

Charlotte and Raven hadn't been at the Xavier house in Westchester, New York in over a decade, though Erik couldn't understand why. He wouldn't exactly call it a "house" either considering it was basically a three story mansion that was so beautifully detailed it made him think of a castle. Even when he was a boy before the war, his family lived in a middle class home, nothing luxurious as this place.

It seemed he wasn't the only one impressed by the professor's home.

"This is your's?" Sean said in awe.

"No, it's ours," Charlotte corrected him.

Erik smiled humorously. All their talks, and he never fully realized the wealthy background Charlotte Xavier came from. "Honestly, Charlotte, I don't know how you survived, living in such hardship."

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me," Raven said, standing between him and Charlotte.

Charlotte smiled lovingly at her sister. "C'mon, time for the tour."

They all went inside, the younger boys eager to see what it looked like inside.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte was busy taking sheets off pieces of furniture in rooms she knew would be frequented.

She had separated from Raven's tour group to start this chore since she already knew the layouts of her childhood home with her eyes closed. She had taken the sheets off in several rooms when her sister finally joined her to help.

"Well, the boys enjoyed the tour and are now fighting over the nicest rooms," Raven said as she helped Charlotte fold a long sheet.

Charlotte laughed. "Let's see how they are when they have to get a glass of water in the middle of the night."

Raven laughed, remembering the first few nights she lived here. She had to mentally awake Charlotte up to help guide her back to her room everytime she got up to get a glass of water.

"The boys and Maurice decided on rooms in the west wing, but Erik decided on one in the east wing. I think he's exploring the place right now," Raven said.

Charlotte nodded as she set the folded sheet in a pile. She went over to the curtains covering the windows. The place was stuffy after ten years, they should air out the whole place.

"So…?" she heard her sister draw out.

"What?" Charlotte asked, looking for a way to open these old fashioned curtains her mother liked to keep closed.

"Why haven't you told me about your "road trips" with Erik?" Raven asked.

Her sister stopped messing with the curtains and looked at her surprised. "What's there to talk about? Nothing happened." At least nothing Charlotte felt comfortable sharing with her sister just yet.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Char. Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

"Raven stop it!" Charlotte tried not to sound like she was begging. Her mind was already scanning the area to make sure nobody, especially Erik was within hearing distance.

Raven held her hands in front of her. "I'm just saying it's obvious that it's obvious he has feelings for you. You're the telepath, have you honestly not noticed? And have you not realized the way you look at him?"

Charlotte thought about all these weeks she had spent with Erik. the conversations they would have at night playing chess in their hotel rooms, the moments they would stand too close for friends, and then that time in the Russian woods when Erik held her and she felt so safe and secure, and… something else in his arms.

She shook her head. "First off, I don't read people's minds unless I have their permission or they're projecting too loudly. Secondly, Erik and I are just friends. Nothing more," she told her sister. She turned back to the curtains, trying to tug them aside.

"Come on, Char," Raven said from behind her.

Charlotte sighed. Her sister wouldn't give it up. "'Come on' what?" she asked, turning back to her.

The smile on Raven's face was replaced with a serious expression. "I'm serious. I've seen you flirt with a lot of guys, but this one's different, and not just because he's a mutant."

"We bonded while we were recruiting," Charlotte tried to say convincingly.

Raven raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing her. "Right."

Charlotte sighed. "I know you have a point, Raven. I'm just wondering what it is."

Raven looked at her, and Charlotte was surprised to see deep concern in her sister's eyes. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Charlotte. It's only been a few weeks, and I've never seen you get this close to someone so fast."

Charlotte opened her mouth, but Raven beat her to it. "That's not including me. What's bugging me is that I think you're in denial."

"What?" Charlotte was stunned.

"Have you seriously not thought about it?" Raven asked.

"Yes-No-I-Maybe," Charlotte spluttered.

Raven's eyes widened a bit.

Charlotte took a deep breath to calm herself. "I value his friendship, Raven. There's just so much happening I can't even contemplate further than that," she explained.

"Even if you wanted to," Raven asked.

"Even if I wanted to," Charlotte admitted, surprising herself. "I don't know what will happen after we deal with Shaw, and it's best if I don't get my hopes up."

Raven nodded in understanding. "Just be careful."

Charlotte smiled. "Don't worry about me, Raven. I can handle myself."

Raven looked at her unconvinced, but hugged her which Charlotte returned. When it ended, Raven left to finish unpacking her stuff.

Charlotte looked back at the curtains that had refused to open, frowning. After her stepfather died her mother would have constant hangovers from all the drinking she did and would always have the curtains closed up to prevent any sunlight from giving her a headache, but did she order the servants to nail them shut? Charlotte grabbed one of the chairs in the room and stood on it. Maybe she could find the rod or line to open them. If not, at least she had a better chance of pulling them open. She looked through the curtains to try and find a way to open them, but found none so she was resorted to opening them with her bare hands. She tugged and pulled, but the stubborn curtains refused to open.

"What are you doing?" The voice nearly startled her, and Charlotte almost lost her balance.

She turned her head to see Erik standing in the doorway, looking confused and maybe even a little amused at her position.

She turned her head back to the curtains, hoping he didn't see how red her cheeks were. "Opening these. We need to let some fresh air in and some light," she answered.

She tugged and felt the curtain move a little. Encouraged, she tugged harder, only for the curtain to come completely down, making her lose her balance and fall.

Suddenly, she felt two strong arms catch her and found her face inches from Erik's. Erik's eyes were wide with surprise, and Charlotte knew her whole face had to be blushing. He had one arm wrapped around her waist and the other under her knees. Surprisingly, despite Charlotte's nervousness, she wasn't uncomfortable one bit.

"Um… thank you," she finally managed to say.

That seemed to snap Erik out of his shock, and realize their position. He quickly put her down gently, and Charlotte stood on shaky legs.

"You're welcome," he said, looking awkward, something Charlotte had never seen before. "Do you need any help?"

Charlotte looked around the room. "No, I was just about done. Thank you, though."

Erik nodded before he left the room quickly.

Charlotte let a deep breath. She was certainly glad nobody had been around to see that. Charlotte and Erik would have been treasured relentlessly.

000{{*}}000

The next day was the beginning of training. Charlotte and Erik had discussed how they would conduct it, and had both agreed that Alex was the one who they needed to work with first considering he had the most difficulty in control. Charlotte had a place in mind where they could start training without inflicting too much damage.

She led Alex downstairs with him carrying a dummy.

"My stepfather took the possibility of nuclear war quite seriously. That is why he had this bunker built down here. I thought we could use it as a practice range of sorts," Charlotte explained as she guided Alex and switched on all the lights in the bunker.

"You don't think I'm going to blow through the walls?" Alex asked, setting the dummy down a good distance from the door.

Charlotte chuckled. "He had this place built to withstand a nuclear bomb. I think it can handle you, Alex."

Kurt had even tested it out with it. Her mother had thought him paranoid, but he had warned her not to complain when a third world war happened. Now, Charlotte was thankful for his paranoia.

"You know, when I do this, bad things tend to happen," Alex warned her as they headed back towards the door.

"That's because you can't control it," Charlotte told. "It controls you. That's why we're here, Alex. It's why we're training."

They were a good distance away from the dummy.

"If you're serious about me doing this, you might want to get back," Alex said to her.

"All right," Charlotte agreed. She went over to the door. "Shall I shut the door?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded.

She closed the heavy doors and listened. "Whenever you're ready." She heard a blast and the alarm went off. She grinned. She knew the bunker could take Alex. She opened the door and her smile dropped when she saw the entire place but Alex and the dummy on fire. She grabbed a fire extinguisher and immediately tried to put the fires out.

"I will teach you to control this, Alex," she said, trying to assure him.

Alex's hopeless expression showed that she didn't succeed.

After the fire's were out, Charlotte enlisted Hank's help. He was able to create a suit that would help Alex better control over his powers.

"Sexy," Alex commented as he looked at the suit.

"Well, this is just the prototype. The real one will look considerably better. It will be a whole suit. See, these sensors measure your energy output. This panel focuses it and the excess is absorbed," Hank explained, showing Alex how the suit worked.

They had set up three dummies to help Alex's aim.

"Alright, try hitting the one in the middle. Just the middle," Charlotte told him.

Alex nodded.

"Good luck." She and Hank closed the doors behind them.

He hit all but the one he was suppose to.

Charlotte was frustrated. How could she help Alex? She could remember when she was just starting to control her powers, and when Raven constantly had to hide her form in front of their family and the servants. The two of them had constantly been nervous until they found a way to work around them. An idea popped into Charlotte's head. She knew exactly how to help Alex.

This time, Charlotte kept just the one dummy in the middle, and had Hank and herself standing on either side of it.

"All right, Alex, I want you to his the "X" and try not to hit me," she called down to him.

Alex looked at her, stunned. "You're serious?"

Hank looked nervous, and to be honest, Charlotte was too, but she stubbornly refused to show it to Alex. trust was what he needed. Charlotte had figured that out.

"I'm very serious," she told him. "I have complete and utter faith in you."

Alex took a deep breath, and Charlotte held herself firmly in place when he fired.

It hit the dummy, and she and Hank stepped away from it as it burned. Alex laughed. Charlotte smiled proudly at him.

"Am I still a bozo?" Hank asked.

"Yes, Hank. You're still a bozo," Alex said. "But nice job."

Charlotte smiled.

000{{*}}000

The next person on the list was Sean who needed help focusing his sonic screams.

Charlotte had Maurice help her carry out a window panel to practice with. With no effort at all, Sean shattered it.

"What you're doing is incredible. You're hitting a pitch with sound waves that have the same resonant frequency as the glass. That's why it shattered," Charlotte explained to him. She pointed at her throat. "But this, it's like any other muscle in the body. You can control it."

Later on, she had Hank help her again designing a suit for Sean. She had a theory as to how else Sean could use his sonic screams.

She was helping him fit Sean into what seemed to be a hanglider's outfit.

"You're sure that this will work?" Sean asked them. Charlotte could feel the nervousness in him over this idea.

"Anything is possible," Hank said. "I based the design-"

"Hank stop talking," Charlotte interrupted him. His explanations were only increasing Sean's fear.

They opened a window for him to jump out. Charlotte had made certain there was only one story so Sean wouldn't be seriously hurt. Erik, Raven, and Alex were watching from another window, eager to see what could happen.

"Now remember: scream as hard as you can," Charlotte told Sean.

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic," Hank clarified. "Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you."

"They **should** carry me?" Sean asked. He laughed, trying to hide his nervousness, but Charlotte could still feel it. "That's reassuring."

"Good luck." Charlotte patted his back. She and Hank stepped away. "And don't forget to scream.

Sean crossed himself as he looked down at the ground. He took a deep breath. He opened his wings and jumped. A scream did escape him, but it wasn't even powerful enough to be considered a sonic scream. Luckily, the bushes broke his fall.

Charlotte sighed.

She enlisted Erik's help, and they managed to talk Sean into climbing up onto the satellite dish to try again. It should be enough to give him momentum.

"And you truly believe I'll fly this time?" Sean asked as he looked worriedly down the dish.

"Unreservedly," Charlotte told him confidently.

"I trust you," Sean told her.

"I'm touched," Charlotte said, and she honestly was.

"I don't trust him," Sean pointed at Hank.

"Say nothing," she told the other boy.

Sean glanced fearfully down the dish. "I'm going to die!" he exclaimed.

Charlotte worked to calm him down. "Alright, look. We're not going to make you do anything you don't feel-"

"Here, let me help," Erik spoke. He surprised them all by pushing the boy off the platform.

"Erik!" Charlotte exclaimed as the boy fell several stories down.

Erik crossed his arms over his chest. A little faith. If the boy didn't scream high enough, Erik would catch him with the metal in his suit.

They heard Sean scream very high, the sound waves pushing him high over their heads. They heard him whooping with delight as he flew, screaming so he could remain in the air.

Charlotte was relieved and happy, but she turned to look at Erik sternly, failing because of the grin she couldn't keep off her face.

"What?" Erik asked amusedly. "You know you were thinking the same."

Charlotte laughed as they listened to Sean enjoying himself in the air.

000{{*}}000

The next person Charlotte wanted to work with was Hank.

Since they were busy during the day, they had to schedule their training sessions in the morning. Charlotte and Hank would jog several laps around the mansion with Charlotte winning every one. Charlotte knew that shouldn't be happening. Hank was holding back, and she knew it wasn't because she was a woman and he was trying to be courteous. He was afraid to embrace his powers.

One morning after a jog, she pulled him aside to talk with him.

"'In each of us, two natures are at war,'" she quoted.

"Robert Louis Stevenson, _Jekyll and Hyde_ ," Hank recognized the quote.

Charlotte smiled. "Top marks. The story wasn't really about good and evil though, was it? It was about man's animal nature and his struggle to control it, to conform. And it's that struggle which is holding you back."

Hank shook his head. "No, Jekyll was afraid of what he could be capable of."

"And you are too," Charlotte pointed out.

After talking further with him, she managed to talk him into taking off his shoes and socks off, revealing his unique like feet.

"If you want to beat me this time, you have to set the beast free," Charlotte told him.

Hank looked nervous, but they lined up with Charlotte counting down. "On your marks, get set, go!"

They ran, Hank shooting past her. Charlotte hadn't even made it far when Hank completed a whole lap and tagged her from behind. Charlotte and Hank laughed, stopping.

"Congratulations, my friend," she said, smiling proudly. "Robert Louis Stevenson would have been proud."

Hank smiled.

000{{*}}000

Because Raven had already mastered her shape shifting abilities from the time she was a child, she didn't require the amount of training as the boys did.

That didn't stop Erik from trying to help.

Because they had grown up together, Charlotte had asked Erik if he could help Raven and see if there was anything he could help with that Charlotte didn't see.

He found the shapeshifter lifting weights, not even realizing he was there until he lifted the weights off her, using his powers.

She looked at him, startled, still in her disguise as a pretty, normal looking blonde woman. That just confirmed what Erik already knew.

"If you're using half your concentration to look normal, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing," he told her as he came forward. "Just pointing out something that could save your life."

He let the weights drop, and Raven caught them before they could crush her, but she shifted into her natural blue form.

"You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself," Erik said to her.

He left the room, leaving Raven to think about his advice.

000{{*}}000

 **There's that chapter. Originally I was going to put Erik's training scene here at the end, but I was worried about taking up too much space, so I'm going to use it in the next chapter. The next chapter will have a lot of Erik and Charlotte in it. Got lots to do. Let me know what all of you think.**


	8. First Class: Chapter 7

**And here's the next chapter. I just want to say thank you to all the people who have been following, favoring, and reviewing this story so far. You have no idea how much it means to me. I hope this chapter pleases everyone because it's all Erik/Charlotte.**

 **Chapter 7**

The last person to train with was Erik.

Charlotte clicked the safety off the gun and pointed it inches from Erik's forehead uncomfortably. "You're sure?"

Erik nodded. "I'm sure."

Charlotte did not like this idea at all.

Erik grinned at her.

Charlotte's hand trembled. She finally put the gun down. "No, no I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't shoot anybody point blank, let alone you," she said.

"Oh, come on," Erik insisted, bringing the gun back to his head. "You know I can deflect it. You're always telling me I should push myself."

Charlotte pulled the gun away. "If you know you can deflect it then you're not challenging yourself. Whatever happened to the man who tried to raise a submarine?"

Erik sighed, tiredly. "I can't." He took the gun from her. "Something that big, I need the situation, the anger."

Charlotte shook her head. "No, the anger's not enough." She knew it wasn't about that.

Erik narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, it's gotten the job done. All this time."

"It's nearly gotten you killed all this time," Charlotte disagreed, remembering the night she first met him. She glanced to her right. An idea popped in her head. She went off the path. "Come on. Let's try something a little more challenging."

Erik followed her, and she pointed at the satellite dish a good distance away. It was about the same size as a submarine and the distance would certainly challenge Erik.

"See that?" she pointed. "Try turning it to face us."

Erik looked at it then glanced back at her. She nodded encouragingly. Erik took a deep breath and tried to move it. He raised his hands and focused like he hadn't done since he was that boy in Schmidt's office. He focused with his anger at Shaw, but the satellite didn't move.

Charlotte didn't have to be a telepath to feel the anger and determination then disappointment Erik felt when he slumped against the stone wall. In a way, his issue was similar to hers until she had finally discovered the way to deal with hearing everyone's thoughts.

"You know, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity," she told him.

He looked at her as he breathed heavily from the exertion.

"Do you mind if I…?" she motioned to her temple.

Erik shook his head, silently giving her his permission.

Gently as she could, Charlotte delve into his mind, searching for a memory that would help Erik. it was like walking in a dark maze of doors, looking for a door where light was hidden inside. Sadly, there were few doors where light was hidden behind but not as little as Charlotte had once feared. There was one door with light peeking out from behind it. Charlotte opened it and brought forth the beautiful memory she found.

 _She saw Erik as a little boy, surrounded by his family as they celebrated their last Hanukkah together. Erik was lighting the candles of the menorah, his mother beside him. She gently caressed his cheek, her smile full of warmth and love._

Tears escaped both Erik and Charlotte when the memory ended and Charlotte drew out of Erik's mind. Charlotte wiped the tears from her eyes before she met Erik's.

"What did you just do to me?" Erik's voice sounded broken as he asked her.

"I accessed the brightest corner of your memory system," Charlotte explained to him as she came to stand next to him. "It's a very beautiful memory Erik. Thank you."

"I didn't know I still had that," Erik admitted. He couldn't believe after all this time he would forget the last time he saw his mother so happy, or the way she truly looked before the Nazis found them.

Charlotte felt her heart clench. Erik had been through so much, endured horrors nobody should face, and committed so many crimes. He saw himself as a monster, but Charlotte didn't see that. He pretended to be a cold, heartless man to the outside world, but Charlotte could see the real Erik behind all of it. She knew he felt sadness, he felt fear, and most of all, he felt love. There was a kindness and love in him that he kept hidden from the world for fear of being harmed. And that was what made him more human than monster. That was what made her love him.

"There's so much more to you than you know," she whispered. "Not just pain and anger. There is good, too. I felt it. When you can access all of that, you'll possess a power no one can match. Not even me."

Erik didn't know what was happening. Never in his life had he felt this vulnerable. He had never trusted someone so completely in his life. Never trusted anyone to look inside him and see all his emotions, anything he perceived as weakness, but here she was. Charlotte Xavier, all her kindness, wisdom, and hopes. Everything about her so sincere and true. A balm to his aching soul. An inner beauty he had never seen in his life.

"Come on!" her voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Try again!"

He turned back to the satellite, hand outstretched, and tears sliding down his face. He felt Charlotte in his mind, encouraging him as he thought of the memory she had found hidden in his mind, and felt the metal of the satellite. He could hear it groaning as it turned at his command until it was facing them.

A huge smile grew on his face, and Charlotte had a proud smile on hers as well, and they laughed together at the accomplishment. Charlotte wrapped her arms around him and Erik held her close as they relished this achievement. "Well done."

It was like they were in the Russian woods again, only this time, instead of sadness surrounding them, happiness did. Charlotte pulled her head back to look at Erik, still smiling. Erik felt his heart racing as the professor's blue eyes shined at him. He was drowning in their dark depths, and realized that if he were to die, he would die happy with the memory of someone looking at him like he was an actual being. Not a monster, not a killer, an experiment, or an abomination.

Charlotte realized how close they were, her arms around Erik's neck, and his around her waist, but she found that she didn't. Instead, her eyes were on his lips, moving closer to them. Erik's eyes had left Charlotte's, landing on her ruby lips, and he too leaned closer to her. Their lips were just a feather's breath away when-

"Hey!"

The two of them jerked away from one another as if they were electrically shocked. They turned their heads to see Maurice leaning out the window. If he had seen their intimate embrace, he gave no indication that he did.

"The president's about to make his address," he told them.

That wasn't good.

Throughout the week during their training, the team had been listening to the news about the Russians sending missiles to Cuba in what was being called the "Cuban Missile Crisis." People had been panicking across the country, preparing for the worse in the case of a nuclear war happening.

Charlotte exchanged a worried look with Erik, and they quickly went inside where Maurice and the children had gathered around the television. They all listened as John F. Kennedy spoke. "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile crossing the embargo line that surrounds Cuba as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States. Requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union…"

Charlotte exchanged a worried glance with Maurice.

"That's where we're going to find Shaw," Erik spoke.

"How do you know?" Alex asked.

"Two superpowers facing off, and he wants to start World War Three," Charlotte answered. "He won't leave anything to chance."

"So much for diplomacy," Erik said. He turned to everybody else. "I suggest you all get a good night's sleep."

000{{*}}000

That night as everyone else went to bed, Charlotte and Erik sat quietly in the study, the chessboard between them.

Tomorrow everything would change. For better or for worse, neither of them knew for certain. As they looked at their chess pieces, deciding their next move, Charlotte thought of their mission and the battle that awaited them tomorrow.

"Cuba. Russia. America. It makes no difference," Charlotte spoke. "Shaw's declared war on mankind. He has to be stopped."

"I'm not going to stop Shaw," Erik told her. Charlotte met his eyes. "I'm going to kill him."

Charlotte was silent.

"Do you have it in you to allow that?" he asked her as he leaned forward to move a piece.

Still, Charlotte said nothing, her eyes on the chessboard instead of his hard expression. The silence was unlike her and unnerved Erik.

"You've known all along why I was here, Charlotte, but things have changed. What started as a covert mission, tomorrow, mankind will know that mutants exist. Shaw. Us. They won't differentiate. They'll fear us, and that fear will turn to hatred."

Charlotte didn't agree with him. People had the capacity to do good things just like they had the capacity to do horrid things. "Not if we stop a war. Not if we can prevent Shaw, not if we risk our lives doing so."

"Would they do the same for us?" he challenged.

"We have it in us to be the better person," she answered.

"We already are!" Erik replied, his tone of voice unsettling Charlotte. "We're the next stage of human evolution. You said it yourself-"

"No," Charlotte shook her head. That wasn't what she meant.

Erik was growing more furious and more frustrated at Charlotte's stubbornness. "Are you really so naive as to think they won't battle their own extinction? Or is it arrogance?"

Charlotte looked up sharply. That comment actually hurt. Erik could see it in her eyes and he felt guilty.

"I'm sorry?" Charlotte asked, silently warning him to tread carefully. She had limits too.

"After tomorrow, they're going to turn on us," he warned her. "But you're blind to it because you think they're all like Maurice."

Now that was a slap to the face. Charlotte willed herself not to let Erik hear any of the hurt in her voice. "And you believe they're all like Shaw," she told him softly.

Erik said nothing, just watching her.

Charlotte leaned forward. "Listen to me very carefully, my friend: killing Shaw will not bring you peace."

"Peace was never an option." Erik had accepted that a long time ago when he saw the corpse of his mother after Schmidt had shot her.

Charlotte closed her eyes in sadness. All this time after everything, she thought she could get through to him, but it was for naught.

Erik could see the sadness in Charlotte, and he wished that he could take it all away, but he couldn't. He wasn't her, he was a monster, he destroyed things. There was nothing he or she could do about it.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte was rummaging through the kitchen after finishing her chess game with Erik. she knew her stepfather had hidden a collection of scotch somewhere in here, and she could use a drink to help her sleep.

Just after talking with Erik, Charlotte had ran into a happy Hank. Supposedly, he had found the answer to his physical mutation and wanted to share it with Raven. Charlotte tried to be happy for his sake, but inwardly, she felt more sad and with all their training and the times she knew he was spending with her sister, she'd hoped that he would accepted himself for the way he was just like Raven had slowly come to accept herself over the years despite hiding her true form in public. Charlotte hoped that when he talked with her sister, Raven wouldn't take the cure, and if anyone could talk Hank out of this it would be Raven.

Charlotte remembered her talks and hopes of finding men who would love them just the way they were. If either of them deserved to find that special someone it was Raven. Charlotte… well. She guessed she would resign herself to just fulfilling her dream in teaching and helping children.

She grinned in accomplishment as she finally found a bottle of her stepfather's scotch.

"You know, sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if you hadn't found me that night," she heard Raven's voice behind her.

"What?" she asked, standing up and looking behind her. "Oh!"

There was Raven, standing in front of her in her natural blue form, wearing nothing. It wasn't the first time Charlotte had seen her sister completely naked. They were sisters! But the sight did startle her.

"Um, Raven, why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

She was glad to see Raven hadn't taken Hank's cure.

"You always said that you were not ashamed of me, right?" Raven asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Charlotte carried the scotch, grabbing two glasses before sitting down in front of her. "And I'm not Raven. Never," Charlotte told her. She took a deep breath. "I ran into Hank. He seemed… excited."

Raven's eyes glistened before she looked down at her hands on the table. Charlotte then knew that the two of them had talked and it didn't go well. She reached out and gently grasped Raven's blue scaled hand. "I'm sorry, Raven."

"He thinks…" Raven spoke before stopping, her voice shaky. She took a deep breath. "I tried to tell him he was beautiful just the way he was, but he didn't believe it. He believes people like us will never be deemed beautiful."

Charlotte's heart broke.

She rubbed Raven's arm and tried to comfort her as best as she could. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't take the cure."

Raven smiled weakly, but gratefully. "Me too."

They sat there in silence before Charlotte poured them both a drink. It seemed she wasn't the only one who needed it.

"I guess, we'll just have to wait a little longer for Mister Right to come along," Charlotte laughed humorlessly before sipping her drink.

"That's not true," Raven said.

Charlotte paused, looking over her glass before setting it down.

"I may have to wait a little longer, but you don't Charlotte," Raven told her, leaning forward. "I ran into Erik too. It was after my talk with Hank, and I… tried to seduce him."

Charlotte's eyes widened at the confession.

"Nothing happened," Raven quickly reassured. "I just wanted to confirm something and I did. He's in love with you."

Charlotte felt her jaw drop. That couldn't be right. She remembered the anger in him in the study just earlier. It couldn't be true. "That's-"

"It's no joke, Char," Raven insisted. "I asked him myself. He didn't answer, but I could see it in his eyes. He's in love with you, and though you try to hide it, you're in love with him too."

Charlotte felt tears in her eyes, and it was Raven's turn to comfort her sister. "What are you afraid of? This should be good."

Charlotte shook her head. "It's not that. It's… a lot of things."

"We could die during the mission tomorrow, Char. You should tell him or you might not have the chance ever," Raven told her.

Hours later, Charlotte still found herself thinking over her sister's words. How could she tell Erik Lehnsherr that she was in love with him? Had loved him since the night they first met when she entered his mind for the first time? How?

000{{*}}000

Erik meanwhile was having trouble sleeping.

After his argument with Charlotte he wanted to go to bed and forget about it when he found Raven undressed and in his bed. He had been angry at this breach of privacy, but that anger had faded when he discovered what was bothering her, her insecurities. She was an amazing creature who should not feel ashamed of her appearance at all.

Then she asked him about Charlotte. Erik knew the shapeshifter could see the feelings in his eyes, and he was furious at himself for letting anybody see. He had no doubt Raven would tell her sister about them. Just terrific. Charlotte would probably be repulsed by them. After all, what woman could love him? A monster? Besides, a beautiful and compassionate woman like Charlotte Xavier certainly deserved better than him.

Now, Erik was struggling to fall asleep, wanting just a few hours of peace from everything. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he was dreaming.

 _He saw his sister Ruth smiling at him, her auburn locks cascading down her shoulders just as he remembered._

 _She waved at him. "Come on, Erik!"_

 _She ran and giggled as he chased after her just like he did before the war._

 _But the more they ran, the farther Ruth was from him until she disappeared in a fog. He stopped, looking around desperately for her._

" _Erik!"_

 _He turned around abruptly to see his mother and father being taken from him. He ran after them, but something was holding him back. He watched as his parents were taken from him, screaming for him, helpless no matter how much he fought, until they disappeared into the fog._

 _No! No! No!_

 _He turned angrily at the thing holding him back, when he found himself face to face with Shaw-Schmidt sneering face._

 _ **Erik. Erik!**_

Erik woke up and shot up, nearly colliding with the figure standing above him. Erik didn't think, he reacted, grabbing the intruder, flipping them onto the bed, one hand holding their wrists above their head, and the other around their throat.

Charlotte had been unable to sleep, tossing and turning in her bed until she got up and decided to walk around the mansion until she felt tired enough to sleep. Then she felt Erik's distress, and heard the crashing of metal in his room. She had hurried over to see him in the midst of a nightmare, screaming "Nien!" as metal flew around the room. She couldn't stand him being in distress like this, so she tried to wake him up, only to be surprised when he grabbed her and threw her onto the bed like she weighed nothing. The cold hard look in his eyes actually scared her as he held her down, but she forced herself to remain calm. She had read about people who had gone through trauma and knew Erik was in an episode that made him believe that she was the enemy and he needed to protect himself.

 _Erik. Erik, it's alright. It's me, Charlotte._ She thought to him.

Slowly, the focus came back to his eyes, his expression confused. "Charlotte?"

Charlotte was so relieved. _Yes, Erik. It's me._

Erik blinked, and then he realized his hands were holding her down and his hand squeezing her neck. He let go and sprung from the bed, away from her.

Charlotte could feel the horror and self-loathing in him so loudly it brought tears to her eyes.

"Charlotte…" Erik tried to speak. "I'm so sorry."

He couldn't be near her. Not after he attacked her and tried to kill her like she was one of his enemies. He could have killed her!

"Erik?"

He couldn't look at her. Turning around, he grasped the edge of the dresser until his knuckles were white.

The sight before Charlotte pained her more than anything. She could feel the shame and self-hatred in him for losing control and attacking her like this. She had to help him.

Getting up, her nightgown and satin robe fell down past her knees to her ankles. Erik himself wore nothing but night pants, showing Charlotte his upper torso which were covered in scars. She recognized scars from surgery and slashed scars that looked like they came from beatings and whips, making it harder for Charlotte not to shed any tears. She wrapped her arms around Erik and placed her head between his shoulder blades. She felt him stiffen, but she didn't let go.

"It's alright, Erik."

Erik disagreed. "No, it isn't. I could have killed you, Charlotte. I would have killed you."

"But you didn't," Charlotte said. She pulled her head away. "Please look at me."

Erik didn't want to. Didn't want to see the look in her eyes as she realized what a monster he was.

Charlotte was horrified when she heard his thoughts. Is that really what he thought himself as? "You don't believe that do you? You're not a monster, Erik."

"Look at me, Charlotte," he growled, turning around to face her. He gestured to all the upturned metal in the room. "I could have easily killed you and not known what was going on until it was too late. I shouldn't even be near you."

He tried to pull away, but Charlotte held his face in her hands. "I know you wouldn't harm me, intentionally. That doesn't make you a monster. Don't think that for a minute."

Before either of them knew what was going on, Charlotte kissed him. Both of them were frozen as if unable to comprehend what was happening. Then Erik kissed her back. It was soft and gentle, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He felt his arms wrap around Charlotte's waist, pulling her closer to him. He felt her fingers in his hair, keeping him closer to her.

Charlotte felt passion unlike anything she had ever felt with anyone before that it almost scared her as she tried not to broadcast her thoughts to every mind within distance. She felt her mind and Erik's come together, feeling his thoughts and letting him feel hers as well. They felt each other's passions, and desires, and want of this moment never ending.

They stopped for a moment, both gasping for desperate air. Then Erik reclaimed her lips with an intense passion that grew more heated the longer they were together. The metal in the room hummed with an energy Erik couldn't control as he lifted Charlotte and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

They held each other as close as they could when Charlotte's back hit the bed, Erik on top of her. Erik's lips left her's and trailed down her neck, eliciating gasps and moans as his hands explored her body. Charlotte held him close to her as they experienced something extraordinary and amazing. Their passions creating something beautiful together.

000{{*}}000

 **Well, what do you guys think? I hope you all like it. I was a little worried as I wrote this. Let me know what you guys think.**


	9. First Class: Chapter 8

**Hey, sorry it took so long to update. It's been a hectic weekend with work, and having relatives graduating this weekend, and on top of that I've been feeling a little sick. So yay! Thank you anyway for waiting so patiently.**

 **Chapter 8**

After the third time, Charlotte and Erik laid together in each other's arms. Now that it was over, Charlotte was finally able to get a grip on her powers and put her barriers back up. Just in case, to make sure she hadn't broadcast broadcasted her thoughts during her and Erik's lovemaking, she quickly scanned everybody in the mansion's minds and nobody except Hank was awake and it seemed even he hadn't heard or felt any disturbance in the house. Thank goodness.

She found her hands caressing over Erik's arms where the numbers 214782 were tattooed into his skin and where she had kissed every scar, including the tattooed numbers. Erik's thoughts were quiet, making Charlotte wonder what he was thinking but restraining herself. It was bad enough she lost control in the middle of all this. She couldn't believe it had happened like that. In all her life, Charlotte had never lost control like that. Not when she first got her powers, and not when she had been with other men during her years in Oxford. No man had ever been able to invoke such passion within her as Erik had just done. With Erik, it was like being set free and not having to worry about the consequences. Also, in the midst of their lovemaking, Charlotte wondered if she had heard Erik say something. It had been in German and slightly muffled. Charlotte was worried of getting her hopes up, and maybe pushing by asking him, so she remained quiet for now.

Neither of them knew what to make of this, what this could mean after the battle, or what to make of the things they said in the throes of passion. However, they both knew for certain that things would never be the same after this.

Charlotte finally brought her eyes to meet Erik's. Both of them staring intently with an emotion both of them were afraid to identify. "No matter what happens, after we face Shaw, I'll remember this," Charlotte promised. Erik kissed her passionately, a silent promise that he would never forget either.

It was in the early hours of the morning, and they had to be up at dawn. They needed their rest, so Charlotte settled in Erik's arms, closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep, but Erik couldn't, just yet.

Happiness was a foreign thing to him and it scared him. These feeling he had for Charlotte Xavier… Never in his life had he felt so strong, feel so confident, and yet terrified at the same time. He remembered nights he had had with women willing to spend a night with him and the looks in their eyes when they saw his scars, but Charlotte… with her she didn't shy away from the ugliness of them. Instead, she kissed every single one of them as if to take the past pain away from them. Erik knew as long as he lived he would never forget this night either.

He imagined after this, helping Charlotte build this mansion into a school for mutant children, a safe haven like she talked about, maybe become a teacher like she suggested, and maybe find happiness with the blue-eyed professor who saw the beauty in everything. But he knew, sadly, that it was all just a dream. It would never happen to him. That didn't stop the feelings he felt as he looked at Charlotte, a small and gentle smile on her lips as she laid in his arms.

Leaning down, he kissed her temple, whispering the words he had said earlier, knowing he would never have the chance to say this again, "Ich liebe dich."

000{{*}}000

When morning came, everyone had gathered, except Hank.

Worried, everybody went to his lab. On the door, Charlotte found a note.

 _Gone to the airbase, bring the crate marked X,_

 _Hank._

Charlotte opened the doors only to find the lab trashed and utterly destroyed. She carefully maneuvered around all the broken equipment. Everyone else looked at the lab in confusion and growing concern.

"What the hell happened here?" Erik asked.

Charlotte didn't know, but she was worried about Hank. Was he alright? She found the crate Hank had marked in the back and opened it. Everyone gathered around her to see the contents inside. They were yellow and black uniforms for all of them.

"Hank has been busy," Erik said when he saw what was inside.

"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex asked.

"As none of us mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up," Charlotte told them, closing the crate.

Once they were suited, they went down to the airbase. They found the jet in one of the hangars. It was impressive, unlike anything any of them had ever seen.

"Where's Hank?" Raven asked, concerned. They still hadn't seen him.

"I'm here."

A figure came out of the shadows. A tall figure with blue fur. Nobody could believe it.

"Hank?" Charlotte asked. Is this what the serum had done?

He came out fully from the shadows. It was Hank. he was blue, furry, with fangs, and he seemed more beast like, but it was Hank McCoy, their friend.

"It didn't attack the cells," Hank answered their silent questions. "It enhanced them. It didn't work." He looked down, ashamed.

Raven was in her true, natural blue form. She no longer felt ashamed of her natural looks. Hank shouldn't be either. "Yes, it did, Hank," she told him kindly.

He looked up at her. "Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be." She held his cheek. "This is you. No more hiding."

Charlotte smiled, both happy and proud.

Erik was proud too. "Never looked better, man," he said, patting Hank's shoulder.

Hank surprised them all by grabbing Erik's neck, snarling.

"Hank!" Charlotte shouted.

"Don't mock me," Hank growled.

Charlotte tried to remain calm as Hank choked Erik. Erik hadn't meant it to be mean. "Hank, put him down immediately, please. Hank!" Charlotte demanded. "Hank!"

Finally, Hank released him. Erik gasped, falling to his knees. Charlotte relaxed. Erik looked up at Hank. "I wasn't," he gasped.

"Even I got to admit you look pretty badass," Alex spoke up. "I think I got a new name for you: Beast."

Hank growled.

Sean looked at the jet. "You're sure you can fly this thing?"

"Of course I can," Hank told them. "I designed it."

When they boarded the jet, Erik and Charlotte shared one tender glance at each other, both knowing that after this day nothing would ever be the same again.

000{{*}}000

Cuba

The situation was not good by the time they made it there. The _Aral Sea_ carrying the missiles was dangerously close to crossing the embargo line.

"Looks pretty messy out there," Beast said, who was flying the jet.

Concentrating, Charlotte delved into one of the minds of the crewman on the ship. It was the only mind she could find on the ship that was still alive, but barely. The rest of the men were already dead, and standing above the man whom Charlotte was connected with was the red-skinned mutant. She could hear a man speaking Russian on the radio, and realizing one man was still alive, the teleporter slammed his foot into the man's skull. Charlotte grimaced as she was cut off from the man's mind, feeling his death. "The crew of the _Aral Sea_ are all dead. Shaw's been there," she reported to her team.

"He's still here, somewhere," Erik insisted.

"He set the ship on course for the embargo line," Charlotte told them grimly.

"If that ship crosses the line, our boys are going to blow it up," Maurice said. "And the war begins."

An idea popped into Charlotte's head. "Unless they're not our boys," she said. Everyone looked at her curiously.

Focusing, she delved into the mind of one of the Russians on the bridge in the lead ship, and took control. She made him go to the controls and press the button, firing a missile from the ship.

However, the missile came in their direction. The jet's alarms went off like crazy. Beast turned the jet to prevent its collision.

"Hold on!" Charlotte shouted, placing a protective arm in front of her sister as the jet spun several times. Beast roared until he got the jet back under control.

The missile hit the _Aral Sea_ and it exploded.

Beast turned to look at Charlotte. "A little warning next time, Professor."

"Sorry about that," Charlotte said. She turned to the others. All except Erik were visibly shaken. "You all alright?" They nodded their heads.

"That was inspired, Charlotte," Maurice praised.

"Thank you very much, but I still can't locate Shaw," Charlotte said, concentrating on looking for him, but no success.

"He's down there. We need to find him now," Erik told them.

Charlotte turned to their pilot. "Hank?"

He looked at Maurice. "Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?"

Maurice checked and shook his head. "No. Nothing."

Charlotte sighed in frustration.

"Well then he must be underwater," Hank said. "And obviously we don't have sonar."

Erik was upset by this news.

Sean grinned. "Yes, we do."

Charlotte saw the plan in his head. "Yes, we do." She removed her headset and unbuckled, Erik following her and Sean to the bomb bay doors. The plane was crooked, making it hard for them to move.

"Hank! Level the bloody plane!" Charlotte yelled.

He did and they were able to make it to the doors. Sean saw Erik coming towards them. "Whoa! You back right off!" He was teasing, but he obviously hadn't forgotten the training cession when Erik pushed him. Erik held his hands up innocently.

"Beast, open the bomb bay doors!"

The doors opened, revealing ocean water and wind that blew in their faces. Charlotte had to shout so Banshee could hear. "Remember!" She pointed at his larynx. "This is a muscle. You control it." She then pointed at her temple. "You'll be in here the entire time. We'll see you soon." Pulling away from him, she held onto a bar as Banshee prepared to jump. "On my mark. Three. Two. One. Go!"

Banshee jumped out and into the water.

Charlotte listened until she heard from Banshee. "Banshee's got a location on Shaw."

Now it was Erik's part.

She stood in front of him, preparing for their next step. "You ready for this?" she asked.

"Let's find out," he answered.

The doors opened, and Erik held onto the jet's wheels, trying to detect the metal of Shaw's submarine. He found it instantly, and began to pull. Charlotte could feel the strain in him as he struggled to lift it.

 _Remember, the point between rage and serenity,_ Erik heard Charlotte gently in his mind. He thought of Hanukkah with his family and spending these last amazing weeks with Charlotte, giving him the focus he needed to do this. He felt his power, stronger than he ever felt flow through him, allowing him to lift the submarine until it was completely out of the water and floating in the air. In this moment, with Charlotte in his mind, Erik felt powerful, invincible.

Hank flew the jet, even as he looked at the sight in awe, towards the beach.

Erik held on as he guided the sub to the beach, until one of Shaw's mutants, Riptide came out of it and sent a strong vortex at them. As it came towards them, Charlotte shouted at Erik. "Erik! Take my hand!"

He ignored her at first until the sub was beached. By then the vortex had hit them and swirled the jet around. Erik held onto the jet's wheel and tried to get in.

"Erik! Take my hand!" Charlotte yelled, fear filling her at the thought of losing him. He struggled, but he managed to grab her hand, and she pulled with all the strength she had in her to get him inside safely.

Finally, he was in, just when the jet hit the sand. Charlotte fell down, and Erik got on top of her, pinning them there like a magnet as the jet rolled before it finally stopped, leaving them upside down. Erik lowered them down gently. They got up, after checking each other for injuries, and set to helping the others out of their safety belts.

"Everyone alright?" Charlotte asked. Everyone answered affirmative as they got out.

"I read the teleporter's mind," Charlotte reported, looking out one of the jet's holes with Maurice. "Shaw's drawing all power out of the sub. He's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb."

"We got no time. The Geiger count is going out of control," Maurice said, looking at the American and Soviet ships so close to one another.

"Alright, Maurice, this is what we're going to do," Charlotte instructed. "Get on the radio and tell them to clear both fleets out immediately."

"I'm going in!" Erik told them.

"Beast, Havok, back him up," Charlotte ordered. She turned to Erik. "Erik, I can guide you through once you're in, but I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me, then we just hope it's not too late to stop him."

Erik nodded. "Got it!"

He ran out, Beast and Havok following after him. "Good luck!" She saw Raven following them. "Raven, stop!"

"I'm going to help them!" the younger woman yelled

"We don't have time for this," Charlotte told her. "If anything comes in that entrance, you're tking care of it, yes?"

"Fine," Raven grumbled, standing guard.

000{{*}}000

Erik stood by Beast and Havok, facing Shaw;s mutants who guarded the sub from them.

Riptide began to swirl another tornado at them. Havok was faster, shooting at him and taking him out. The red-skinned mutant, Azazel teleported out of the way and right next to Beast and Havok. He swung at Beast with his dagger which Beast blocked. He then grabbed Beast and his tail wrapped around Alex's throat, teleporting them away from the beach.

Erik ran towards the sub as Riptide recovered from the attack. Erik ripped a metal piece out of the sub and took out Riptide with it. He entered the sub, hearing Charlotte's voice inside his head, guiding him.

 _Erik, make for the middle of the vessel. That's the point my mind can't penetrate. We have to assume that that's where Shaw is._

Erik followed her instructions, entering what looked like the control room. He saw a handle that said "Reactor". _That's the nuclear reactor,_ he heard Charlotte. _Disable it._ He did so, seeing the pressure valve lower from extreme dangerous levels.

Now to find Shaw.

He opened the door to a wealthy office room. _Erik, you're there. You've reached the void._

But Erik saw no one inside. The furniture was flipped about, but there was no one here.

"He's not here Charlotte!" he told her. "Shaw's not here! He's left the sub!"

 _What? He's got to be there. He has to be! There's nowhere else he can be. Keep looking!_

"And I'm telling you he's not!" Erik shouted. "There's no one here, damn it!"

He heard doors behind him open, cutting him off. Slowly, he turned and saw Shaw inside a mirror room.

"Erik, what a pleasant surprise," Shaw grinned.

Erik moved towards him, not realizing Charlotte was no longer in his head.

"Erik? Erik," Charlotte called out, but she could not hear or even feel him.

"So good to see you again," Shaw said as Erik entered the room, the door sliding shut behind him, trapping him inside.

"May I ask you something? Why are you on their side?" Shaw asked.

000{{*}}000

"He's gone," Charlotte said, out loud and in worry.

"What?" Maurice asked.

"He's gone into the void! I can't communicate with him there," Charlotte explained as she paced beside him.

Maurice tried to reach the fleet.

Charlotte was worried. What was happening to Erik?

000{{*}}000

"Why fight for a doomed race who will hunt us down as soon as they realize their reign is coming to an end?" Shaw questioned Erik.

At that moment, Erik didn't care. He thought of his mother, and all the suffering he and so many had gone through because of this man. He threw a hard punch into the man's face, but it didn't look like it had any effect on him. Just bruised Erik's hand like he hit a brick wall.

"I'm sorry for what happened in the camps," Shaw said. Erik looked at him in disbelief. "I truly am."

He touched Erik's forehead and something pushed him into the mirror, cracking its glass.

Charlotte felt Erik's presence in her mind and relief filled her. "He's back!"

 _Erik, whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's starting to work._ Erik felt Charlotte in his mind again, giving him strength and focus. He glared at Shaw.

"But everything I did, I did for you," Shaw explained. "To unlock your power. To make you embrace it."

He touched Erik's chin, and Erik was flung across the room, breaking a walled mirror.

 _It's working! I;m starting to see him, but I can't yet touch his mind._

"You've come a long way from bending gates," Shaw continued as Erik got up. "I'm so proud of you."

Erik felt the metal around them and used it to break the mirrors and attack Shaw, but nothing fazed the man no matter what Erik threw at him.

"And you're just starting to scratch the surface," Shaw said to him, making his way to him, despite Erik trying to stop him. "Think how much further we could go together."

He pushed the metal into Erik until he was pinned between him and the wall. Erik was bleeding and he tried everything he could to stop Shaw but nothing. He was trapped. Shaw leaned close to Erik.

"I don't want to hurt you, Erik. I never did," Shaw said to him. "I want to help you. This is our time. Our age. We are the future of the human race. You and me, son. This world could be ours."

Erik heard his words, and he remembered what Schmidt had said to him that first day in Auschwitz. "Everything you did, made me stronger. Made me the weapon I am today," Erik admitted. A tear escaped his eye. No matter how many times Charlotte had tried to convince him otherwise, Erik knew he was a monster just like Shaw had created. "It's the truth. I've known it all along." He looked up at Shaw. The man grinned at his words. "You are my creator."

Shaw didn't see, but during this, Erik had used a metal wire to sneak up on Shaw until it was too late. It took the helmet off Shaw's head. Shaw tried fervently to grb it.

"Now, Charlotte!" Erik yelled for her.

Shaw froze in midway, trying to reach it. Erik released the metal pinning him down.

000{{*}}000

Maurice looked at Charlotte in concern, seeing the strained look on her face as she concentrated. "Are you okay?"

"Maurice, be quiet," she replied, desperately. "I can only control this man for so long."

His mind was the hardest she had ever encountered before.

Erik walked around Shaw, seeing his startled face frozen. He took Shaw's helmet.

"Sorry, Charlotte," Erik said softly.

 _Erik, please! Be the better man!_ He heard Charlotte's pleas in his head. "It's not that I don't trust you."

 _Erik, there will be no turning back-_ He put the helmet on, silencing her voice.

"No!" Charlotte was heartbroken, like she had been stabbed. She hit the wall furiously, ignoring Maurice. "Don't do this, Erik!" This was not the way. She had to make him see that. She was forced to watch from Shaw's eyes.

Erik leaned closer to Shaw, grinning dryly. "If you're in there, I'd like you to know that I agree with every word you said. We are the future."

He turned and stepped away from the man. "But, unfortunately, you killed my mother." That was something he could never forget, never forgive. He turned back to Shaw, and the man's frozen eyes saw the Nazi coin Erik had kept all these years, that had started all this. "This is what we're going to do."

"No!" Charlotte gasped, walking down the destroyed jet. "Please, Erik, no." Tears stung her eyes. She couldn't get through to him. She was in Shaw's mind. He had to know that she was watching this. Feeling all of Shaw's fear as he was at Erik's mercy.

"I'm going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin," Erik told him.

"One."

The coin floated. Tears blurred in Charlotte's vision as she held onto Shaw, watching all if this, seeing the cold, hard look in Erik's eyes. The same one when he attacked her the night before. "Please, Erik," she begged.

"Two."

The coin neared Shaw. charlotte pnted. Feelin Shaw's growing fear and her own as the coin neared them.

"Three."

The coin entered into Shaw's forehead. Charlotte screamed in pain. She could feel it moving through her brain. Slowly and painfully until it finally came out and ended Charlotte's last connection with Erik.

The coin clattered to the ground, covered in blood.

Shaw was dead, but Erik didn't feel peace. He never expected to, but now he had never felt more empty and alone. A tear escaped his eyes. He was a monster. He accepted that. Nothing would ever change that.

000{{*}}000

 **There's that. I hoped you all enjoyed it. Please leave reviews so I know what you're all thinking.**


	10. First Class: Chapter 9

**And here we are. Wow! I can't believe it. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 9**

Maurice helped Charlotte back to her feet when she had collapsed from the pain. Together, they ran out of the jet and onto the beach just as Erik came out of the sub, levitating Shaw's body for everyone to see. Charlotte could feel everyone's fear and horror: Hank, Alex, Sean, Raven, Angel, Riptide, Azazel, Maurice, and her own as Erik dropped Shaw's body on the sand.

"Today our fighting stops!" he yelled. He levitated himself to the ground, looking at all the mutants. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters. The real enemy is out there!" He pointed at all the ships out in the sea. "I feel their guns moving in the water. Their metal targeting us. Americans, Soviets, humans, united in their fear of the unknown." He walked out towards the ships, Charlotte following. "The Neanderthal is running scared, my fellow mutants!" He looked at her. "Go ahead, Charlotte. Tell me I'm wrong."

Charlotte sensed the thoughts of the Americans and Soviets out in the water, preparing to fire all their missiles on the beach where nine mutants and one human were standing. She couldn't tell Erik he was wrong and that's what hurt her. She nodded at Maurice, and he ran back to the jet, trying to call off the attack. Charlotte could feel and hear his desperation then hopeless shock. She looked back at the ships as they fired their missiles. They came souring at the mutants on the beach. Charlotte could feel everybody's fear, but Erik's because of his helmet.

Just when the missiles were about to hit them, Erik held his hand out, feeling the metal the missiles were made out of and stopped them. He held them hanging in midair above their heads.

Charlotte could feel the fear and astonishment from the humans in their ships as they saw this.

Then Erik turned the missiles facing back to the ships.

Charlotte felt her throat tighten as she realized what Erik had planned to do. "Erik, you said yourself we're the better men. This is the time to prove it," she tried to tell him, but he didn't listen. She had to make him see the insanity and brutality in this. "There are thousands of men on those ships! Good. Honest. Innocent men!" They had lives, had friends, families, and loved ones. "They're just following orders!"

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik's reply was sharp as a knife. He looked at her, and Charlotte felt her heart freeze. He wasn't Erik, the man she loved. He was Magneto. "Never again."

He launched the missiles back at the ships.

"Erik, release them!" Charlotte demanded. She could feel the fear of the men on the ships, screaming at her, thinking of loved ones as they resigned themselves to their deaths. She wanted it to stop.

She had to make it stop.

"No!"

She tackled Erik to the ground with all her strength, taking him by surprise. They collided on the sand. She tried taking the helmet off his head. She was smaller and weaker than him. He had the advantage. Her only chance was to get inside his mind and stop him. She couldn't let him kill all those men. She wasn't fast enough to remove the helmet before Erik recovered from her attack.

"I don't want to hurt you. Don't make me!" Erik growled. He elbowed her in the face, pushing her off him and onto the sand. Charlotte gasped, winded and in pain. Erik saw the children move in to help Charlotte. "Stand back!" Using the metal in their suits, he flung them back.

Charlotte's fury was ignited. She fought Erik, despite the fact that he was stronger than her, and tried to rip the helmet off his head.

He pinned her down and tried not to let her reach the helmet. "Charlotte, enough!" Some of the missiles had dropped and exploded from the distraction. Erik reached out to grab the ones that he didn't lose and resume their course to the ships, but he couldn't focus. Not when Charlotte was trying to stop him.

Charlotte's hands were on the helmet, but she couldn't get a strong enough grip to take it off. "Erik! Stop!"

Erik lost his focus for just one moment to punch her, leaving her winded, and allowing him to get off her and regain control of the missiles.

Charlotte reeled from the punch, both in shock and in pain. The missiles were getting closer. The men's fear growing even louder and causing her to stumble.

No one had noticed Maurice had left the jet until he fired shots at Erik with his gun. The first one hit Erik's helmet, bouncing off harmlessly. Erik turned to the agent as the man continued to fire at him. Erik easily deflected them. Charlotte could hear Maurice's thoughts, knowing that the effort was futile but working enough to distract Erik long enough for him to lose the missiles and save those men on the ships. Charlotte got up as Erik deflected the bullets away from him until he waved in Charlotte's direction.

Sharp, hot pain split into Charlotte's back. A loud noise filled her hearing. Who was screaming? Was that her? Maurice dropped his gun in horror. Erik felt himself freeze as he watched Charlotte fall to the sand on her stomach. Raven's hands were over her mouth, holding in the screams in her throat as she watched her sister fall down, and Erik rush to her side. Charlotte felt someone turning her on her side. The pain in her spine increased as she felt the bullet in her spine come out. She hissed in pain and tears stung her eyes.

The bullet came out crumbled and bloody into Erik's hand. Distantly, he heard the missiles he had launched at the humans exploding harmlessly in mid air, but he didn't care. Charlotte gasped in pain as Erik turned her, laying her head on his lap, his arms around her protectively. "I'm so sorry, Charlotte." He cradled her closely to him, glaring as Maurice and the children came towards them. "I said back off!" He wouldn't let anyone near her to harm her further. He would kill them first. The children stopped, worry evident in their faces. He looked at Charlotte who was in pain.

Through all the pain, Charlotte struggled not to project it onto everybody around her. She had never felt this kind of pain before and it threatened to tear her mental walls down. The fear from the men on the ships had stopped, and it was now replaced with the worry of everyone around her. She could barely focus as Erik turned his fury on Maurice.

"You." He glared at the agent whose gunshots had harmed Charlotte, the woman he loved. This human deserved to suffer. "You did this." His hand shot out towards the agent.

Charlotte felt Maurice's pain through her own and saw the dog tags around Maurice's neck tighten and begin to strangle him. She felt Maurice's struggle to breath. "No," she gasped. No more death. No more pain. "Erik… please."

Erik heard Charlotte begging him to stop, but he couldn't. He wanted this human to die.

Erik was going to kill Maurice if Charlotte didn't stop him. "He didn't do this, Erik," Charlotte said, knowing the truth would hurt him, but continued. "You did."

Erik looked at her as if she had slapped him. His hand fell down, resting over her chest, and sparing Maurice.

Charlotte was relieved when she heard Maurice gasping for air.

Erik looked into Charlotte's deep blue eyes filled with pain, sadness, and honesty that it felt like a million knives stabbing him as he realized the truth. Maurice may have fired the shot, but he was the one who directed it into her spine. He saw what he had always feared he would see in Charlotte's eyes: the look that realized that he was a monster.

Charlotte knew Erik hadn't meant to hurt her. He was only trying to defend himself, but it felt like someone had poured a bucket of icy water on her. Was this Erik? The man she met weeks ago and saved from drowning, the man who laughed with her as they played chess or helped train the children, the man who the night before she comforted and made love to? Was this the man she had fallen in love with?

Erik felt tears in his eyes as Charlotte looked at him with her sad blue eyes, making him wish the bullet had hit him instead of her. "Us turning on each other," he said thickly. The tears making it hard for him to speak. "It's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charlotte." He felt so exposed, so vulnerable as she looked at him with her tearful blue eyes. "I want you by my side. We're family, you and I. All of us, together, protecting each other." He shook her gently. "We want the same thing, Liebling."

Charlotte felt like she was drowning, both in physical and mental pain. The sadness, guilt, and pain she saw in Erik's eyes hurt her more than the bullet in her back, but she knew, sadly, that there was no other way. "My love," she said, a tear sliding down her face. "I'm sorry, but we do not."

Erik and Charlotte looked at each other with pain and regret, both wishing for things to be different.

Erik resumed the hard mask he had always worn and motioned for Maurice to come over. The agent wasted no time. Gently as they could, the men shifted Charlotte from Erik to Maurice. "Charlotte! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Maurice apologized to the woman he had become fond of these last few weeks.

Charlotte gasped painfully at the trade, feeling the guilt radiating from Maurice. "It's alright," she tried to reassure him. She struggled to keep a tight grip on her shields, but forced herself to listen through the pain as Erik addressed the others.

"This society won't accept us. We form our own. The humans have played their hand. Now we get ready to play ours. Who's with me?"

There was silence.

Erik saw Banshee, Havok, and Beast turn away from him, Angel pondering the decision, Riptide and Azazel turning to each other in silent questioning, and Raven… Raven looked like she agreed with him. He held his hand out to her. "No more hiding."

Raven walked forward. She looked at Erik, the promise of freedom, but then she saw Charlotte, her sister who had protected her all these years on the ground, injured in the human's arms. Raven found herself kneeling by her sister's side.

Charlotte opened her eyes and saw her sister next to her. Either her shields were so weak or Raven was projecting her thoughts too loudly because Charlotte could feel the conflict within her. Her longing to go with Erik, and her worry for her big sister. It was tearing Raven apart. It hurt more than Charlotte could say, but she knew she had to let her go. "You…" she breathed. "You should go with him. It's what you want."

Raven could see the pain in her sister's eyes, not just the physical pain but from this as well. She wiped a hand on Charlotte's brow. "You promised me you would never read my mind," she said tearfully.

"I know," Charlotte admitted, another tear escaping her. "I promised you a great many things I'm afraid. I'm sorry." There was nothing she could do. She wouldn't be the reason for Raven to stay out of guilt, but there was nothing else that could change her mind. However, that didn't stop her from telling her sister how much she meant to her. "I love you, Raven. Never forget that."

Raven's vision blurred with tears as Charlotte kissed her hand. She leaned down and kissed her sister's forehead before turning to Maurice. The man glared at her for causing Charlotte such pain. Raven didn't blame him. "Take care of her," she told him. He nodded.

Raven turned to Erik, glancing one last time at her sister before standing up and taking his hand. Angel, Riptide, and Azazel came and joined them. Raven looked at her former comrades: Havok, Banshee… and Beast. The only person who had understood her. "And Beast," she called out to him. "Never forget: mutant and proud."

Beast turned his head away from her. Erik looked one last time at Charlotte, his heart breaking as he saw her lying down on the sand. He loved her, and he would never be able to tell her. He turned away and nodded at Azazel. The five mutants vanished in a flash of smoke.

Tears flowed more freely from Charlotte's eyes. The pain of losing Erik and Raven overwhelming her. Alex, Sean, and Hank rushed to Charlotte's side.

"We're going to get you to a hospital," Maurice said to Charlotte as he and Hank tried to help her up.

Charlotte tried to get up when the pain in her spine increased, causing her to scream in pain.

"Wait," Hank stopped. "Charlotte, don't move, okay?"

"I won't," she automatically said. Then she suddenly realized something. "I… actually… I-I… I ca…. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs." Over and over again like a broken record, she repeated it. All the pain she had been fighting flooded and overwhelmed her. Losing Erik, then Raven, and now her legs. Her vision blurred, and she stopped fighting the darkness and allowed herself to fall into oblivion.

000{{*}}000

Weeks later, Charlotte was finally back at the mansion. It had been a long, hard struggle but the boys had been able to take her to a hospital and transport her to New York for further treatment. There they had all learned the heartbreaking truth: Charlotte was paralyzed from the waist down and there was no chance of ever walking again. Charlotte had wanted to scream and cry, but she held it together for the boys even though on the inside she felt like a broken doll. After weeks of recovery and learning how to manage in a wheelchair, Charlotte had been released out of the hospital.

Now, she was being pushed by Maurice through the mansion's gardens. Dear Maurice, through all of this, he had stayed by her side and helped the boys take care of her. Now, his mission was done, and he would be forced to go back to the CIA.

"So, how many students do you think you'll have here once you get the academy up and running?" Maurice asked.

Charlotte smiled. "As many as I can manage. Possibly more."

They stopped in the middle of the garden. "You know, one day the government is going to realize how lucky they were to have Professor X on their side," Maurice said, coming to face Charlotte.

Charlotte laughed. "I suppose I am real professor now, aren't I? Next thing you know, my hair will be turning gray."

Maurice laughed.

"We're still on the government's side, Maurice," Charlotte told him. "We're still G-men. Just without the G."

Maurice shook his head. "No, you're your own team now. It's better. You're… X-men."

Charlotte laughed. X-men. That had a nice ring to it. She looked at Maurice. "Maurice? For us, anonymity will be the first line of defense."

Maurice kneeled before her. "I know. They can threaten me all they want, Charlotte. I'll never tell them where you are, ever," he swore.

Charlotte smiled softly. "I know you won't. I know." She leaned forward and kissed Maurice's lips. It was gentle and sweet, but nothing like the fiery passionate ones that made her heart soar with Erik, but it distracted Maurice long enough for Charlotte to erase his mind all memories of her and mutants.

As she watched him leave to go to his home, she let herself cry in despair and disgust with herself. It was for the best. She knew Maurice had developed feelings for her these last several weeks, but she couldn't return his affection. She cared for him as a dear friend, but her heart belonged to someone else. Maurice deserved someone who returned his feelings, give him a normal life, family, and happiness. Charlotte couldn't give him that.

She sobbed into her hands. Why? Why couldn't she love him? Why couldn't she love someone who cared about her and was willing to stand by her through everything? Why did she have to fall in love with someone else? Why did she have to love Erik Lehnsherr?

000{{*}}000

It was easy breaking into the CIA base. The Brotherhood easily found their way in and took out any agents that got in their way as they headed to where Emma Frost was being held. The woman heard the metal door of her cell being ripped off, and prepared for the defensive, shifting into her diamond form. A man walked in, dark cape and so familiar helmet that blocked her from reading his mind. She recognized the man who helped capture her.

"I know we've had our differences," his tone of voice telling her his dislike but willingness to work with her.

"Where's your telepath friend?" she asked.

"Gone," he answered curtly. "Left a bit of a gap in my life if I'm to be honest. I was rather hoping you would fill it." He turned his head to the door entrance. Emma followed his gaze. She recognized Azazel and Riptide and two girls with them. "Join us."

She returned her attention to the man before her, shifting back into her human form. "Erik, I believe."

"I prefer Magneto." He would forget Charlotte Xavier. Magneto would have no regrets, but Erik Lehnsherr… Erik Lehnsherr would have many regrets.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte watched the snow fall outside her study, fiddling with the necklaces around her neck.

One was the Star of David that she had found when she had been cleaning out Erik's room the day after she was released from the hospital. She had insisted to the boys on cleaning it out herself, and they had reluctantly agreed. Among those things she had found had been the Star of David she realized Erik must have made over the years.

The other necklace was a single metal rose charm. One day while Charlotte had been recovering at the New York hospital, she had woken to find it laying beside her on her bed. She knew instantly who it was from. The metal rose was made of what looked to be a red like iron. It was beautiful and it'd brought more tears out of Charlotte than any real life flower could.

Since then she had been wearing both necklaces around her neck, close to her heart. Who was she fooling? She couldn't hide it from the boys and she couldn't lie to herself. It had been over a month since she heard any news of Erik and the "Brotherhood" he had established. Just days after breaking Emma Frost out of prison, Angel had died. Rumors were going around that the government was hunting down and experimenting on mutants. Charlotte had tried to search for Erik and Raven, desperate to hear from them, and worried that something had happened to them, but Emma blocked her attempts to even see if they were alright. That was a twist of the knife in her back. Didn't they know how worried she was for them?

Charlotte took a shaky breath. She had to stop this kind of thinking. These last few days, her emotions had been everywhere, and she had been sick, throwing up every morning. Just a couple days ago at the boys' insistence she had gone to see the doctor and had yet to hear from him. These last several weeks, she and the boys had been busy preparing this mansion into a school. There was so much work to do: paperwork, construction work, supplies, and finding teachers and students. Charlotte and the boys had been working everybody to make her dream of turning this place into a school a reality. Only now did they take the break to celebrate the Christmas holiday.

A knock sounded on her study room door. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Hank. "Dinner's just about ready."

Charlotte smiled as she gathered her papers up. "That's great. I'm starving." After days of throwing up every morning, she had finally regained her appetite and was ready to gorge herself on anything she could find.

Hank grinned, dimples showing on his blue furry face. "Well, you're in luck. For once, Sean and Alex didn't manage to burn anything."

"Well, that's a Christmas miracle indeed."

Charlotte and Hank laughed as she pulled her wheelchair away from the desk. Hank had done an amazing job building it and it was much better to the one she had in the hospital. She had just reached the doorway with Hank when her phone rang on her desk. She sighed, looking at Hank. "This will only take a minute. You can tell the boys I won't be long."

She wheeled back to her desk and answered the phone. "Xavier residence."

"Hi, may I speak with Charlotte Xavier?" the person on the phone asked.

"This is she."

"I'm your physician Dr. Collins. You came by earlier this week in regards to vomiting every morning and having severe headaches?"

"Yes," Charlotte answered.

"And a month ago and a half ago you were shot and paralyzed, yes?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Charlotte confirmed. She saw from the corner of her eye, Hank, watching her. "Why? Do you think there's some kind of damage or infection from it?"

"No, I'm just puzzled," the doctor told her. "I've ran the test several times, but the results are the same. It shouldn't be possible."

"What?" Charlotte asked. She noticed Alex and Sean had joined Hank, and they were all looking at her with growing concern.

"According to your medical records, you were shot in the spine, lost a great deal amount of blood, and undergo two surgeries. It's astounding!"

Charlotte was losing her patience. "I know what was said after the doctors treated me, Dr. Collins. What's is it?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Miss Xavier. It's a miracle. According to these tests, you're six weeks pregnant."

The phone fell from Charlotte's hand and it clattered on the ground.

000{{*}}000

 **Well, there we are. Wow! Now the fun part begins. I'm going to be working on my Silver, Scarlet, and Jade series that have scenes that take place in between the movie series. I hope you all have enjoyed this series so far. I'm going to continue to working on this with Days of future past throughout the summer, so stay tuned. Thank you all so much for all your support. It's helped me so much and cheered me on my worst days. Keep it up.**


	11. Days of Future Past: Chapter 10

**Hey, I know it's been a while, but this whole week has been difficult. With work and babysitting my sister, and then yesterday one of my kittens died horribly and he was one of my favorites so I'm pretty emotional right now.**

 **So now we move on to Days of Future Past. I've altered a lot of details. I added Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Polaris into this because I told Arianna Le Fay that they would be playing an important role in this fic, and I replaced Sunspot with Eclipse from the Gifted because I liked him and the relationship he had with Lorna. I also gave Wanda the ability to send someone back in time. In the original script Rachel Summers was the one who did and since she, Jean Grey, and Wanda have similar powers I thought of giving that task to Wanda.**

 **Thank you all for waiting so patiently. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter.**

Chapter 10

 _The future, a dark, desolate world. A world of war, suffering, loss on both sides. Mutants and the humans who dared to help them. Fighting an enemy we cannot defeat. Are we destined down this path? Destined to destroy ourselves like so many species before us? Or can we evolve fast enough to change ourselves? Change our fate? Is the future truly set?_

000{{*}}000

Moscow

They were in the bunker when they attacked.

Scarlet Witch had been talking to her sister Polaris when Warpath and Blink appeared through one of the latter's portals.

"Time's up!" Blink shouted.

"Sentinels!"

Nobody wasted any time, dropping what they were doing, and prepared to defend themselves. Shadowcat hurried to Scarlet Witch's side just like they've always done.

The Scarlet Witch shared a look with her sister. Even though everyone knew what was happening, the fear and worry was still there. Scarlet Witch then turned her gaze to her sister's boyfriend Eclipse as he powered Bishop up with his power. He nodded, silently promising her that he would protect her little sister to the best of his abilities.

"Let's go!" Shadowcat said. The two women ran.

Everyone else gathered in a circle, waiting for the attack to come. The silence was heavy and tense until they heard the drilling above their heads. Polaris looked up, and saw a drill pierce through the cemented ceiling. The Sentinels were made out of a nonmetal alloy, but the room she was in contained enough metal not to render Polaris defenseless. She stood between Eclipse and her best friend Blink, preparing to use the metal to defend herself and her friends, and to buy her sister and Shadowcat more time. She heard Colossus shift into his metal form, and Eclipse powering the solar energy in his hands.

The Sentinel came down and landed in front of them. The sight reminded her of the monsters she read as a child, sending a shrill of terror through her, but she wasted no time, making the metal shelves in the room shift and tie themselves around the Sentinel while Eclipse torched the machine. Another Sentinel landed behind the group. Colossus ran to it, but it easily overpowered him, punching him down to the ground. Warpath ran to his aid, Blink creating a portal that allowed him to attack the Sentinel from behind. The distraction allowed Colossus to be able to fight back, punching its head into the ground.

The Scarlet Witch and Shadowcat ran down the paths through their hideout, the younger women phasing them through any objects in their way when a Sentinel dropped in their way. Scarlet Witch used her energy to blast it, but it recovered from it. A silver blur brushed past her, flinging her auburn locks in the way for a moment before she saw Quicksilver, carrying Bishop who blasted the Sentinel. A portal appeared behind them, and Scarlet Witch and Shadowcat immediately took advantage of Bishop and Quicksilver's distraction, and Blink's escape route.

The two of them continued their run, hearing the Sentinel chasing after them. Another portal opened in front of them, and out came Iceman, creating an icy slide, passing the two women as they ran past him, him and Shadowcat sharing one quick look before he shifted into ice, beginning to freeze the Sentinel chasing after them.

It was a losing battle.

Colossus was tossed into a shelf filled with supplies. Getting up, he turned to face the Sentinel, aiming a punch at it, but the Sentinel caught it, twisting his arm painfully. Then the Sentinel's body shifted into the same type of metal as he was.

Polaris struggled to keep the metal wrapped around the Sentinel as Eclipse tried to burn it. It tore out of the metal restraints and shifted into an icy form before it lunged at them.

Iceman covered his Sentinel in ice. Then it turned to a fiery red, breaking out of the ice and grabbing him by the throat.

Shadowcat phased herself and the Scarlet Witch through a big metal door. There was a slab in it, and Shadowcat immediately laid herself down on it. Scarlet Witch put her hands around the younger woman's head, and a red energer went inside it. As this happened, the Scarlet Witch tried not to feel the deaths of her friends and comrades. She felt Colossus's head be smashed inside, Eclipse and Iceman choked to death, and Polaris burned till she could no longer feel their life forces. Tears fell down her face as she focused on her task with Shadowcat.

Outside the room, a Sentinel approached it. A portal opened behind it and Warpath jumped onto its head, stabbing its neck. It didn't faze it as it grabbed and threw him off across the room. Its arm shifted, ready to stab and end his life when Blink jumped out of one of her portals, quickly making another one in front of it in time to save Warpath's life and get it away from them. But Blink was unable to close the portal quick enough as she tried to help Warpath back up. The Sentinel turned and plunged its arm into her just before her portal closed. She gasped and collapsed next to Warpath.

"Blink!" Warpath shouted. "No!" Warpath watched as his friend died next to him, sadness and anger filling him as he looked up. The Sentinel was joined by the other two Sentinels. Warpath felt a breeze wisp past him and realized Quicksilver and Bishop had joined him as well. It was three against three, but the mutants knew they didn't stand a chance. That wasn't their mission though. Their mission was to give Scarlet Witch and Shadowcat more time. The three of them lunged at the Sentinels even as energy bursted from the machines heads at the mutants.

Sobs escaped Scarlet Witch as she felt Warpath, Bishop, and Quicksilver's deaths. They were running out of time. She looked up and saw the metal door melting. Then the head of a Sentinel came through. Its head opened up, an energy powering up to destroy Scarlet Witch and Shadowcat. The mutant witch glared at it. "Too late, assholes!" she hissed.

The energy beamed out of the Sentinel and came to kill the last two mutants when all of a sudden they disappeared. The entire bunker was empty with no evidence of an attack, or even of anyone ever living in it. The mutants and Sentinels were gone as if they were never there.

000{{*}}000

She could feel their fear, their pain, then deaths. The minds of fellow mutants had grown so few it filled the aged professor's heart with a heavy sadness. She finally found the minds she had been looking for. Her former students were hiding in Asia.

 _Professor?_

"I've found them," she told her friends and allies.

Giving them the coordinates, the ship blasted through the dark sky, fast enough to avoid detection. They landed at an abandoned monastery hidden in one of the mountains on the Chinese border.

Storm was the first to come out, followed by Logan who lit a cigar as he descended down. Professor Charlotte Xavier came out in her hoverchair while Erik, her friend, paramour, enemy, or as many knew him, Magneto followed behind her.

Bishop, Eclipse, and Warpath were guarding the entrance. All three of them looked at the newcomers with tense suspicion.

"Professor." Bobby Drake came out, recognizing his teachers and friends. He hugged Storm and greeted Logan, happy to see them. He was joined by Kitty, Piotr, Wanda, Peter, and Lorna.

"Professor, you made it." Wanda smiled at her, and Charlotte returned it, happy to see them all. Lorna came over and hugged the professor. Peter and Wanda however, stood a little away from their biological father, but still shared a nod with him. Things had been tensed between the twins and their biological father for years, but in recent years had managed to push their differences aside to help one another and their fellow mutants. Inside, they were grateful and happy to see one another alive.

After greetings were exchanged, everyone gathered inside the monastery. They had been separated for months and had barely managed to survive the attacks since the school's destruction. Wanda explained how they managed to survive in the hopes of discovering a solution to their current situation. "Whenever the Sentinels attack, Warpath spots them, then I send Kitty back to warn us of the attack before it happens. Blink and Peter scout the next site, and then we leave before they ever know we were there."

"Because," Warpath spoke, sitting down. "We never were."

"What do you mean you were never there?" Logan asked, confused.

"She projects Kitty back in time a few days to warn the others of the coming attack," Charlotte explained to him.

"So she sends Kitty back in time," Logan said, looking at the witch like mutant. Her powers were boundless and scared him. Not unlike another woman he once knew…

Charlotte shook her head. "No, just her consciousness into her younger self. Her younger body."

"Wow." Still freaky in Logan's opinion.

Erik looked at Charlotte before turning to the others. "This might just work, Charlotte."

"What might work?" Lorna asked.

Charlotte explained to them all. "The Sentinel program was originally conceived by Doctor Bolivar Trask. In the early seventies, he was one of the world's leading weapons designers, but covertly, he had begun experimenting on mutants, using their gifts to fuel his own research. There was one mutant who had discovered what he was doing."

"A mutant," Erik said. "With the ability to transform herself into anyone."

"Mystique," Piotr realized.

"I knew her as Raven," Charlotte said, her eyes reminiscing on the girl she had loved and cared for for years as her own blood. "We met when we were children, grew up together. She was like a sister to me."

Erik looked at her with guilt and regret in his eyes.

Charlotte continued. "I tried to help her, but only succeeded in driving her away. She hunted Trask across the world, and at the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, after the Vietnam War, she found Trask, and killed him. It was the first time she killed."

"It wasn't her last," Logan murmured.

Charlotte glanced at him, but ignored his comment. "But killing Trask did not have the outcome she expected. It only persuaded the government of the need for his program. They captured her that day, tortured her, experimented on her. In her DNA, they discovered the secrets to her powers of transformation. It gave them the key they needed to create weapons that could adapt to any mutant power, and in less than fifty decades, the machines that have destroyed so many of our kind were created," Charlotte explained. "But it all started that day in 1973, the day she first killed. The day she truly became Mystique."

Silence descended on the group, all of them realizing what the professor's plan was.

"You want to go back there," Kitty stated, not questioned.

"If I can get to her, stop the assassination, keep her out of their hands, then we can stop the Sentinels from ever being born," Charlotte explained.

"And end this war before it ever begins," Erik finished.

Charlotte nodded.

Glances were exchanged among everyone in the group, all of them wondering if it was possible and worried about what this could mean. Wanda was worried and hesitant over this plans and the risks. "I can send someone back a couple weeks. Maybe a month, but you're talking about going back decades. You have the most powerful brain in the world, Professor… Mother… but the mind can only stretch so far before it snaps. It would rip you apart," she explained. Even with her powers that seemed boundless, there were consequences. She had known the kind professor since she was a child and had only found out about her being her birth mother only a few years prior to all this, and couldn't bear to lose her like so many loved ones she had already lost. "I'm sorry. No one could survive that trip."

"What if someone's mind had a way of snapping back," Logan spoke up. Everybody looked at him. He continued, "What if someone could heal as fast as their ripped apart?"

There was debate over this, considering the risks involved, someone dying or ceasing to exist. In the end it was agreed that Logan would go back in time and prevent this future, giving them the chance to start a better one.

The doors to the monastery were sealed. Storm, Warpath, Blink, Eclipse, Colossus, and Bishop spread out to guard it from any attack. Logan walked into the room where the slab was. Kitty, their medic was standing off to the side with Bobby, one of their last defense bodyguards. Wanda, Peter, and Lorna were standing a little ways as well, conversing before Lorna would join the others outside, and Peter remained to help guard and watch over Wanda. The possibility of Lorna not existing had struck the siblings hard. Even before they knew of their relation to one another, Logan knew that they had been friends for years and ared as if they had grown up together. He glanced at the professor and his former adversary, knowing the two of them could feel their children's pain, but decided to focus on the mission instead.

"So I wake up in my younger body, who knows where, then what?" Logan asked.

"You'll need to go to my house," Charlotte said to him. "And find me. Convince me of all of this."

"Won't you be able to just read my mind?"

Charlotte shook her head, remembering the difficult time she went through. "I didn't have my powers in 1973. Logan, you're going to have to do for me what I once did for you. Lead me, guide me. I was a very different person back then. You'll have to be patient with me."

Logan scoffed. "Patience isn't my strongest suit."

"You'll need me as well," Magneto added in.

"What?" Logan turned to look at him.

"After Mystique left Charlotte, she came with me, and I set her on a dangerous path. A darker path," he explained before looking at Charlotte who looked down mournfully. "It's going to take the two of us, side by side at a time we couldn't be further apart."

Logan glanced at the professor. In the years he had known her, he had learned about her and Magneto's past together. It was shocking to say the least, and to this day he still had trouble understanding their relationship that had lead to Wanda, Peter, and Lorna's existence. "Great. So where do I find you?" he asked.

"Well, it's complicated." Was all the man would provide. Well that sounded helpful.

He laid down on the slab, Wanda beside his head as she explained to him what would happen. "Basically, you body will go to sleep while your mind travels back in time. As long as you're back there, past and present will continue to coexist, but once you wake up… whatever you've done will take hold and become history, and for the rest of us, it will be the only history that we know. It will be like the last fifty years never happened, and this world, this war… the only person who will remember it is you."

She took a deep breath. "Alright, Logan, I need you to clear your head and stay as calm as possible."

"What? What do you mean?" he asked.

"If your mind gets rocky, it will be harder for me to hold you, and you could start to slip between past and present," she explained.

"What if I need to get a little rocky?"

She shrugged. "Think peaceful thoughts?" she suggested.

"Peaceful thoughts," Logan mumbled. "Do you have any good moods?"

"Well, you don't really age, so you'll pretty much look the same," Wanda said.

"You won't have much time in the past," Peter warned him, standing by his sister's side. "Sentinels will find us."

"They always do," Bobby said.

"And this time we won't be able to run," Wanda told him. "We'll have no escape. This is our last chance."

Erik and Charlotte watched all this.

"You really think this will work?" Erik asked the professor.

"I have faith in him."

"It's not him I'm worried about, it's us," Erik clarified. "We were young, we didn't know any better."

Memories of choices and mistakes they'd made flashed in both of their minds, and the pain they had caused each other over the years. In 1973… they weren't the best people to be around with, but Charlotte had faith in themselves. "We will now."

Logan glanced at all his friends, preparing himself for the journey. "See you all soon."

"Just don't get killed, and don't let our parents kill each other before you fix this," Peter said, a small grin appearing on his face, the first one in years.

Logan grinned back. "No problem, kid."

"This might sting a little," Wanda warned him.

Scarlet energy came out of her hands and into his head. Logan roared in pain, his claws coming out of his knuckles as he felt his head split and burn as he was taken from the present he knew and into the past to an uncertain future.

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys think? Originally, I was going to have the twins be raised by Charlotte and Erik finding out about them in DOFP but thought it wouldn't make much sense in Apocalypse, so I went with the idea that they were taken from Charlotte at birth. Instead of them being raised together like they are in the comics, I've decided to have them adopted by separate parents. Peter is still adopted by the Maximoffs, but Wanda is adopted by a different family. I reveal who as the series go by. Please review and let me know what you guys think.**


	12. Days of Future Past: Chapter 11

**Hey guys! I was so excited and happy to see all the reviews when I got home from work last night, and it made me stay up a little late to finish this chapter until I couldn't keep my eyes open so I had to finish writing it this morning and finally managed to type it all out today. Thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and followers. It's the best encouragement a writer could have. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 11

Saigon

The Colonel made his way over to the hut labeled Quarantine. He heard the other soldiers talking that it was where they placed the "freaks" after their latest mission. Who knew what the medics were doing to them inside.

He tried to enter, but was blocked by the two men guarding it. "Can I help you, Colonel?"

"Just here to give our boys a proper send-off," he answered.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have orders. This is quarantined area."

The Colonel suppressed the anger inside him and looked hard at the guard. "Stand aside, soldier. That's an order."

The men moved aside, opening the door for him. He pushed the plastic aside as he entered.

"Atten-hut!" The men in the room stood up when they saw him.

"At ease," he quickly told them, feeling a little uncomfortable. He looked at the soldiers sitting in their cots, watching him warily as he passed them. He looked at the ones deemed "freaks". One of them had tattooes on his face down to his arms, one of them with unusual spike like hair and dark eyes, one that resembled a toad with goggles, and one that he recognized as Alex Summers. He winked at him, causing the young man to look at him weirdly and uncomfortably, but the Colonel continued to the desks where medics were going through paperwork and bloodwork.

"What is all of this?" he asked them.

"Lab reports, blood tests," the medic answered. "It's all getting packed up and shipped back."

The Colonel picked up one of the files. "Where's it going?"

"Same place they are," the medic motioned to the privates. "Trask Industries."

The Colonel looked through Alex's file. They had done a series of blood tests and examinations, all under the orders of Trask Industries. The Colonel had a bad feeling about this. He wasn't able to continue looking through the file further when a voice boomed into the room.

"Let's go, gentlemen! I'm taking you out of this shitshow."

The Colonel turned and saw a young man, a major come in with a few other soldiers.

"Shipping home?" Alex asked.

The major checked his watch. "Not just yet."

One of the men opened a case, holding a series of syringes.

"What are you doing with those?" the toad man asked.

"Something to make the ride a little smoother," the major answered. "I'm transferring you to a private facility."

They were abducting them, the Colonel realized. The major's words convinced his suspicions. The men looked at the syringes, suspicion and worry showing on their faces. The Colonel couldn't let the major or his men take these soldiers to be experimented on like rats. "You men are not military," he said.

The major held out a slip of paper. "Private outfit. We're authorized to remand these men."

The Colonel looked at the paper. It was orders and permission to do what the major was planning to do. He couldn't let that happen. He looked at the major. "These troops are going home," he told him.

The major grinned amusingly. "Well, Colonel, I don't believe you have jurisdiction in this matter."

The Colonel smirked. "I'm afraid I do, Son."

The major frowned. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"The question is, Major," the Colonel said, picking up the dogtags the major wore around his neck. _Stryker, William Jr._ they said. The Colonel could remember the senior Stryker and his hatred for anything different. He looked back at the Major, Stryker. "Who are you?" He ripped the dogtags off the young man's neck.

At the same time, he suddenly shifted before everybody's eyes into a woman with blue-scaled skin, red hair, and amber eyes. She glared with menace at the man before her as surprise and fear filled his face.

Men began to pull their weapons out, but the woman, Mystique moved much faster than them. She punched a man in the throat. Wrapping her arms around Stryker's neck, she kicked one of the guards into one of the lockers. Still hanging on to Stryker's neck, she spun around, kicking any man that came near her, before flipping Stryker onto the ground. Turning around, she grabbed a man's hand as he pointed his gun at her, wrapping her legs around his neck and then flipping them down on the ground. The mutants around her began to fight back, taking out and subduing the people around them. Mystique snapped the man's arm, breaking it. He screamed in pain.

She saw Stryker moving to grab his gun. Getting up, she moved, grabbing his arm with the gun, and held his throat with her other hand. Hatred and anger filled her as she watched him struggle to breath. She saw his hatred for her kind, and it made her want to see him suffer. She squeezed harder.

"Raven!" Alex's voice distracted her, but she refused to let go of Stryker. "That's not my name," she told him. She was no longer Raven. She was Mystique.

Red energy suddenly threw Stryker away from her and onto the desks. She turned furiously at Alex. "I had that."

He grinned at her. "I know."

She couldn't help, but soften and smile back at her old friend for one brief moment. Then she pushed her feelings aside. Someone would come in and check on them. They had to get out of here. "Let's move out! Come on, let's go."

"Where's Erik?" Alex asked.

"I'm on my own now," came her curt reply. She shifted back into her Colonel disguise, Alex and the other mutants following her as they exited the hut. They could hear the engine of a plane starting up. They had to hurry.

"Hold that plane!" Mystique shouted. "Wouldn't wanna leave these boys in this forsaken country!"

The mutants were able to board. Alex, however, stopped, looking at his old friend. "You're not coming with us, are you?"

"My war's not over," Mystique told him. "The enemy is still out there."

Turning away, both mutants went their separate ways: Alex on the plane back home, and Mystique on her own mission. Mystique shifted into a female soldier's disguise, watching amusedly as Stryker burst out of quarantine, trying to find the mutants.

Now, to get to the bottom of what Trask Industries wanted with mutants.

000{{*}}000

The sign on the front gate said _Private Property Keep Out._ the sign that should have said _Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters_ was down on the ground, covered in weeds.

Logan had woken in the past, apparently after sleeping with some mobster's daughter and after a struggle, had managed to get a car that could take him to find the professor at the mansion. But when he got there, instead of the school filled with students he had lived in for years, the place was run down, and not a soul in sight. What happened?

He got out of the car, and headed to the front door, and knocked. It took a couple of minutes, but the door was finally opened. The person who answered was a young man with dark hair, and kind of a geek with those glasses of his in Logan's opinion.

"Can I help you?" the young man asked.

"Uh…" Logan looked around. Was it just him and the professor here? "Yeah, what happened to the school?"

The man looked at him like he was crazy. "The school's been shut for years. Are you a parent?"

Logan scoffed. Him a parent? That was a kicker. "I sure as hell hope not. Who are you?"

"I'm Hank. Hank McCoy. I look after the house now," the young man explained.

Logan took his glasses off in disbelief. This was Hank McCoy, the mutant who proudly showed his blue hair mutation while he worked in politics? "You're Beast?" He grinned. "Look at you. I guess you're a late bloomer."

The young Hank looked uncomfortable. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

He tried to slam the door shut, but Logan stopped it. "So, where's the Professor?" Logan asked as he struggled against the door.

"There's no professor here," Hank quickly told him.

"You're pretty strong for a scrawny kid," Logan observed. "You sure there's not a little Beast in there? Come on, Beast," he taunted.

"No," Hank insisted. "He's not here."

Logan finally managed to push the door open, pushing Hank out of the way, and allowing him to go inside.

"Hey!" Hank shouted. "I said the school's closed. You need to leave!"

"Not until I see the Professor," Logan told him, looking around the place.

Hank grabbed his arm. "There's no professor here, I told you that."

Logan turned to face him, impatience filling him. "Look, kid. You and I are gonna be good friends." He punched him in the face, and he fell to the floor. "You just don't know it yet."

He climbed the stairs and called out for the Professor. The place was easily quiet, so unlike the noise he was use to hearing in this place of students going about their days. He called out to the Professor again. Where was she?

He heard movement behind him. He turned around and saw Hank in his blue Beast like form swing from the chandelier, roaring as he tackled Logan. Logan was totally unprepared to be battling a younger and more hot headed version of Beast. The guy practically handed his ass to him, throwing him into the stairway, grabbing him and throwing him onto the table in the entryway. Beast jumped and hung from the chandelier, roaring at him.

"Hank?" Both men stopped at the sound of a young and feminine voice. "What's going on here?"

Logan looked up and was surprised by what he saw. A young woman walked down the steps. She was wearing pajamas with a robe and carrying a glass with some kind of liquor. Her dark ebony hair was long and disheveled, and no makeup on her face at all. Not only that but there was a sad hopelessness in her despite the carelessness she seemed to be trying to give off. She couldn't be more different to the professor he knew.

"Professor?"

The woman grimaced. "Please, don't call me that."

"Why? You know this guy?" Hank asked, pointing at Logan.

Charlotte cocked her head. "Yeah, he looks slightly familiar." She noticed Hank still hanging off the chandelier. "Get off the bloody chandelier, Hank!" she scolded.

He let go and landed on his feet beside the table.

Logan looked at the young woman before him, standing on the steps. Standing. "You can walk."

"You're a perceptive one," she remarked, sitting down on the stairs.

"I thought Erik-" he tried to say but was interrupted as Charlotte continued.

"Which makes it slightly perplexing that you missed our sign on the way in. This is private property, my friend," she told him as he got up from the table. "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Well," Logan said, wincing a bit at his bruised muscles even as they healed. "I'm afraid I can't do that, because, uh, I was sent here for you."

"Well, tell whoever it was that sent you that I'm… busy," she told him.

"Well, that's gonna be a little tricky," Logan explained. "Because the person who sent me was you."

"What?" Charlotte asked, confused.

"About fifty years from now," he added.

What?

Charlotte laughed. This guy had to be high on something. Hank was grinning as well.

"I know," Logan said. "Stay with me."

"Fifty years from now?" Charlotte asked. "Like 'in the future fifty years from now'?"

"Yeah," Logan answered.

"I sent you from the future?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yeah."

She looked at Hank, and he shook his head. "Piss off."

"If you had your powers, you'd know I was telling the truth," Logan said.

"How do you know I don't have my…" she stopped. She looked at him more seriously now. "Who are you? Are you CIA? You've been watching me?" she demanded.

Logan shook his head. "No, I told you. We've been friends for years." He walked up closer to her even as she tensed up. "I know your powers came when you were nine after you loss your father. I know you thought you were going crazy when it started, all the voices in your head, and it wasn't until you were twelve that all the voices were in everyone else's head. I also know that in 1963 during a recruitment mission in Transia you gave birth to twins, and they were taken from you by members of the High Evolutionary. Do you want me to go on?"

Charlotte was frozen, tears burning in her eyes as this man revealed personal details only the people closest to her knew. She refrained from attacking him at the mention of the babies she had lost, too numb to do anything. "I never told anyone that," she whispered.

"Not yet, no," Logan said, looking at her sympathetically. "But you will."

Charlotte took a shaky breath. Maybe this man wasn't so crazy as she first thought. "All right, you've piqued my interest. What do you want?" she asked him.

"We have to stop Raven," Logan told her.

Raven. That name struck both Charlotte and Hank's hearts of the girl they had both cared for and missed these last ten years.

"I need your help," Logan said. "We need your help."

The hope in Logan's eyes was too much, reminding her of the young, hopeful woman she had been before she lost everything she held dear. She pinched her wrist, wincing a little from the pain. "I think I would like to wake up now." She got up and headed towards her study. She needed another damn drink.

Hank watched his friend leave with sadness before turning back to Logan. "What does she have to do with this?" he asked as he reverted back to his human form.

000{{*}}000

"So, you're saying they took Raven's power, and what? They weaponized it?" Charlotte asked after Logan told them his story.

Logan nodded. "Yep."

"She is unique," Hank said softly.

"Yeah, she is, Hank." She knew that all too well. She wasn't the only person in this house who had trouble letting go of a loved one. That was one of the reasons Hank was such a good and understanding friend.

"In the beginning, the Sentinels were just targeting mutants," Logan continued to explain his story. "Then they began to identify the genetics in non-mutants who would eventually have mutant children or grandchildren. Many of the humans tried to help us, but it was a slaughter, leaving only the worst of humanity in charge. I've been in a lot of wars. I'd never see anything like this. And it all starts with her."

Charlotte had sat down on the couch in front of the unfinished chess game she kept, sipping the alcohol as she listened to him. It all seemed like a fantastical horror story you would read in novels, but why would he make all of this up? And Raven? She would be the cause of all this? Charlotte knew they had their differences ever since Cuba, but Raven was her sister. She liked to believe that she knew her. She knew her as being incapable of killing someone. Even when they were kids, and their stepbrother Cain tormented them, Raven never thought further than defending herself from him. Charlotte didn't want to believe her darling little sister whom she helped nurse sick animals back to health was capable of cold blooded murder.

"Let's just say for the sake of…" she paused, trying to find the right word for it. "The sake, that I choose to believe you, that I choose to help you. Raven won't listen to me." She sighed. "Her heart and soul belong to someone else now."

Erik. That son of a bitch who took her heart, shattered it, and burned it to bits.

Hank looked down, hurt, and Charlotte felt bad for saying it like that in front of him.

"I know," Logan said, standing up. "That's why we're going to need Magneto too."

Hank and Charlotte both looked at him incredulously. "Erik?"

Hank looked at Logan like he lost his head, and Charlotte started laughing insanely.

"You do know where he is?" Hank asked Logan.

"Yeah."

Charlotte felt a stitch in her side as she laughed so hard, standing up from her seat. She finally stopped and glared at Logan. "He's where he belongs," she spat. She started walking away. That was enough bullshit.

Logan watched her leave. "That's it? You're just gonna walk away?" Was this happening?

"Ooh, top marks," Charlotte said in fake cheer as she headed towards the stairs. "Like I said, you are perceptive."

"The professor I know would never turn her back on someone who'd lost their path," Logan told her as she walked away. "Especially someone she loved."

Charlotte froze before the steps, turning to look at Logan. Her glare would have made even the devil quake, and if looks could kill and Logan could die, he'd be a shredded mess deep in the ground. But then she grinned.

"You know," she said, walking back towards him. "I think I do remember you now. Yeah. we came to you a long time ago, seeking your help, and I'm gonna say to you what you said to us then: f*** off."

Logan grabbed her shoulders, his temper finally snapping. "Listen to me you bitch!"

Hank stood up, but Charlotte wasn't afraid. Not one bit.

"I've come a long way, and I've watched a lot of people die. Good people. Friends. If you're gonna wallow in self-pity, and do nothing, then you're gonna watch the same thing, you understand?"

Oh, she understood, but she didn't care. She hadn't cared since she lost her babies, Erik walked away from her, and she lost her students because of the war. Caring brought nothing but pain in her life. Logan's anger didn't scare her because she no longer cared what happened to her.

She pulled away from him. "We all have to die sometime," she told him coldly. She turned away and headed back upstairs.

Logan watched her.

"Told you there was no professor here," Hank said from behind him.

Logan couldn't believe this bitter woman was the same wise and kind-hearted professor who'd helped him and so many others. He turned to Hank. "What the hell happened to her?"

"She lost everything," Hank explained. "Erik, Raven, her legs, her children. We built the school, the labs, this whole place shortly after Cuba when we found out that she was pregnant. We were all happy and excited for her. Then late into her pregnancy, we received a tip of a mutant in danger in Transia. Charlotte went with us, and then she went into labor, and… during the chaos, the midwife who helped us, took the twins, but we were never able to contact her again. Charlotte was devastated. She tried searching for them with Cerebro, but there was no luck. The school was the only concrete thing she had left, so she held onto it. Then, just after the first semester, the war in Vietnam got worse. Many of the teachers and older students were drafted. It was the last straw. It broke her. She retreated into herself. I wanted to help, do something, so I designed a serum to treat her spine, derived from the same formula that helps me control my mutation. I take enough to keep myself balanced, but… she takes too much. I tried easing her back, but she just couldn't bear the pain, the voices. The treatment gives her her legs, but it's not enough. She's…" Hank paused, taking a deep breath before looking at Logan again. "She's just lost too much."

000{{*}}000

Charlotte sighed as she injected a dosage into her body. Not hearing the voices, the pain should have given her some kind of peace, but it didn't. It just increased her guilty conscience. Erik, Raven, her babies… no matter how hard she tried, not a day went by that she didn't think of them.

She picked up the twin teddy bears on her bed: one gold with a blue ribbon and one black with a pink ribbon tied around their necks. It was ridiculous: a grown woman going to bed with stuffed animals, but they had been given to her by Sean as a gift before he died and she lost her children.

Her darling babies.

She could remember the pain she went through during their birth, and the fear she felt giving birth in a place she was unfamiliar with. Then when she saw them both for the first time, it was all gone, replaced by love and awe at the sight of them. They were so beautiful, so perfect. All the pain she went through, and all the heartache that happened when Erik left her had been worth it. Her son had white blonde tufts of hair that kind of reminded her of her mother Sharon, while her daughter had dark auburn curls she remembered Erik's mother having when she looked into his mind and saw the memories of her. They were a beautiful blend between her and Erik, and she couldn't believe they had been able to create those two perfect lives.

Then they were taken from her.

There had been a fire, and Charlotte didn't want to believe that they and the midwife had been unable to get out, but she couldn't find them even with Cerebro. She had been forced to accept the fact that they might be dead, and she was all alone in the world.

She set the teddy bears down, then her eyes caught the picture of her sister, Raven. Sweet Raven smiling so happy and innocent. The girl had been her best friend for so many years. She remembered the night they met in her kitchen. Little Raven, so tiny, scared, and malnourished. Then becoming Raven's sister, promising to protect her and to never let her be alone. Even after Raven had left her, Charlotte continued to love her. They were sisters. No matter what pain they caused to one another, they'll always be sisters and they'll always love one another.

It was with that, Charlotte got up and headed back downstairs where Logan and Hank were still in her study.

"I'll help you get her," Charlotte told Logan. "Not for any of your future shite, but for her."

Logan nodded. "Fair enough." He could live with that.

"But I'll tell you this," Charlotte warned him. "You don't know Erik. That man is a monster. A murderer." She learned that the hard way years ago. Saving Raven was one thing, but Erik… she tried and failed to stop him from destroying himself. "You think you can convince Raven to change? To come home? That's splendid. But what makes you think you can change him?"

"Because you, Erik, and your children all sent me back here together," Logan answered her.

Children.

Logan could see a spark of hope in Charlotte's eyes and knew it was the right thing to say. Revealing too much of the future would change it a lot, but that was the point. If Charlotte had that spark of hope then there was hope for all of them.

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys all think? I hope I have a lot of you on your toes. Stay tune. The next update will be coming soon. Reviews are the best encouragement a writer can have.**


	13. Days of Future Past: Chapter 12

**Hey, guys. Thanks for waiting. That last chapter was longer than I had planned. Do you guys prefer that, or should I should stick to my usual length?**

 **And also for obvious reasons, I've deaged Quicksilver to better fit this story.**

Chapter 12

Logan didn't ask how they had a copy of the Pentagon's blueprints.

Hank explained the layout to them. "The room they're holding him in was built during the Second War World when there was a shortage of steel. So the foundation is pure concrete and sand. No metal."

From what Charlotte had heard, Erik had broken out several times before the CIA finally managed to figure out the perfect place to hold him. "He's being held a hundred floors beneath the most heavily guarded building on the planet."

It was going to be next to impossible to get him out.

"Why is he in there?" Logan asked,.

Charlotte and Hank exchanged a glance.

"What, he forgot to mention?" Charlotte wasn't surprised. It seemed Erik hadn't changed much in the future.

Hank was the one to answer Logan's question. "JFK."

Logan's eyes widened. "He killed…"

Charlotte chuckled grimly. "What else explains a bullet miraculously curving through the air? Erik's always had a way with guns. Are you sure you want to carry on with this?"

"This is your plan, not mine," Logan told her.

"We don't have any resources to get in," Hank said.

"Or out," Charlotte added in. "it's just me and Hank." Even with all of Hank's geniality they would only get so far before they were caught. Charlotte saw the gears in Logan's head turn.

"I knew a guy," he said. "He'd be a young man, a kid actually. Grew up outside of D.C." A chuckle escaped him as he remembered. "He could get into anywhere. I just don't know how the hell we're going to find him."

Charlotte shifted uncomfortably as Hank glanced at her. "Is Cerebro out of the question?"

Logan watched Charlotte look down.

"We have a phonebook," Hank suggested.

000{{*}}000

Bolivar Trask was walking down the hall of Trask Industries.

His secretary stood up when she saw him coming. "I thought you'd be getting ready for your trip, sir."

"I just came to grab a couple files," he said, then glanced at her. "Is that a new scarf? It's nice."

The woman was a little surprised by the compliment. "Thank you."

Trask continued up the stairs where he shifted into Mystique. She continued up, entering Trask's office. It was neat, expensive, and smart looking. She started going through his files, looking for anything suspicious. Anything that could tell her what Trask wanted with mutants.

Nothing. She tried not to get frustrated, then noticed the portrait behind her. Perfect place to hide a safe.

The frame opened like a door, revealing a thumbprint scanner. Easy. Mystique shifted her thumbprint to look like Trask's and the wall opened up to a room with drawers. Searching through them, she found images of some type of machine Trask was working on and other weapons.

She opened another drawer where more files were kept until she found one labeled under _Autopsy Reports_. Picking it up, she began to look through it, and was horrified by what she found.

Mutants.

Their bodies mutilated and dissected.

Each picture made Mystique sick, but she couldn't bring herself to stop looking, flipping through them, and seeing their faces. Her fellow mutants.

Her pain grew as she found pictures of faces that she knew.

Azazel and Angel.

Her lover and friend.

Azazel calling her beautiful in his native tongue, and kissing her. Angel laughing with her as they shared memories with each other and their hopes for a better future.

Tears blurred her vision, but all she could see were the faces of her mutant brothers and sisters.

"Dr. Trask?"

"One second," she automatically changed her voice. Quickly shifting back into Trask's form, she met the secretary as she left the vault.

"We added some names to the Paris meeting," the secretary explained, showing her a list.

She looked at the names, remembering them, and filing them for future use. She looked up at the secretary. "Thank you."

The secretary frowned. "Is something wrong, Sir?"

Mystique realized that the woman could see her tears. She quickly wiped them away. "No. it's nothing. Would you mind typing up my itinerary? I don't want to miss anything?"

The secretary nodded and then finally left.

Mystique's eyes glowed amber under her disguise. Bolivar Trask was a murderer. A monster. Killing innocent mutants. Mystique wouldn't let him kill anymore.

Her mutant brothers and sister would be avenged.

000{{*}}000

Logan told them that the boy's name was Peter Maximoff.

Just that name dug up decade old wounds inside Charlotte. Maximoff had been the name of the mutant they had tried to help in Transia back in 1963, and Peter had been the name she'd chosen for her son before she lost him.

They had found his address in the phonebook, and true to Logan's word, he lived just outside of D.C. The house he lived in was nice and in a decent neighborhood.

After parking the car in front of the house, Charlotte and Hank followed Logan up to the front door. Logan knocked several times and they waited a while before it was finally opened.

Marya Maximoff was older and looked more worn out than the last time Charlotte had seen her. Of course, raising a mutant kid like Logan had describe would wear anyone out. She looked tired and exasperated. "What's he done now?" she asked. "I'll just write you a check for whatever he took."

"We just need to talk to him," Logan reassured her.

Mrs. Maximoff looked at him, unconvinced, before letting them in. "Peter! The cops are here! Again!" she called out.

Kid must be a natural troublemaker. Charlotte was just relieved Marya hadn't recognized her or Hank. To this day she still felt guilty not being able to help her family better.

They entered the house, noticing the burnt out trail on the welcome mat, leading across the carpet in the hallway to what seemed like the basement. They could hear the sound of a ping pong ball bouncing off a table as they came down the steps.

A young boy was playing all by himself, bouncing the ball at one end of the table before appearing at the other end in the blink of an eye. "What do you guys want? I didn't do anything," he said as he played his game. Then suddenly, he was sitting on the couch behind them. "I've been here all day."

Hank and Charlotte turned around astonished. Logan, however, was used to this kind of behavior from the Peter he knew in his own timeline. While the older Peter was tall and grew to look more like his father everyday, this young Peter while still being tall for a ten-year-old, still had an innocence in him despite all the scams he ran since his mutation kicked in at eight before the Professor had found him. Or so Peter had once told Logan. He looked older than his ten years, easy to mistake for an early teenager, and his white-blonde hair seemed as white now as it is in the future. Logan also noticed that he had his mother's eyes, even though he looked at them with suspicion.

"Relax, Peter," he told the boy, hoping to gain his trust. "We're not cops."

"Of course, you're not cops. If you were cops you wouldn't be driving a rental car," the boy replied in a very fast tone.

Charlotte was surprised by his knowledge. "How do you know we've got a rental?"

Charlotte barely finished the sentence before Peter answered her. "I checked your registration when you were walking to the door. I also had some time to kill, so I went through your rental agreement, saw you were from out of town. Are you FBI?"

He didn't wait for them to answer. All of a sudden he was right behind them, holding Charlotte's wallet and looking through it. Charlotte looked through her purse and not finding it, looked at the boy. How did he do that?

"No, you're not cops. Hey, what's with this gifted youngsters place?" Peter asked before he dropped it on the table.

"That's an-" Charlotte tried to say, but he was already gone. "Old card." She picked up her wallet and the card Peter had taken out.

"He is fascinating." Hank was giddy and excited.

"He's a wound up kid," Charlotte told him. Logan was expecting them to break Erik out with the help of a kid not even old enough to be in middle school?

Hank looked at Logan. "Is he a teleporter?"

"No, he's just fast," Logan answered. "When I knew him he wasn't so… young." He was the same age as the other X-men in their thirties when Logan came into the picture. He was arrogant, mischievous, and certainly lacked the innocence his younger self did, but he was loyal to his friends, especially to his sisters and mother.

"Young? You're just old," Peter said from behind them. They turned to see him sitting on the couch again, but finishing an ice cream treat.

"So you're not afraid to show your powers?" Hank asked him.

"Powers? What powers? What are talking about?" Peter asked them. "Do you see something strange here? Nothing anybody would believe if you told them."

There was something in his eyes that told Charlotte that he had a rough life despite his age and despite the loving home he seemed to be living in. For a briefest moment, her heart softened as he reminded her of Erik and Raven when she first met them both.

He zipped past them, and they quickly turned around to see him playing an arcade game, probably stolen, at an inhuman pace. "So, who are you? What do you want?" he asked them as he played.

"We need your help, Peter," Logan said.

"For what?" Peter asked.

"To break into a highly secured facility, and to get someone out," Logan explained.

"Prison break?" They could hear the grin on his face. "That's illegal, you know."

"Uh…" They all looked around the basement, seeing television sets, cameras, and dozens of boxes of Ding Dongs, twinkies, and cakes. "Only if you get caught," Logan finished.

"So what's in it for me?" Peter asked.

"You, kiddo, get to break into the Pentagon," Charlotte told him.

The boy stopped playing, turning to look at them. Charlotte felt a sense of deja vu as he looked at them with suspicion, unable to trust them just yet.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because we're just like you," Logan explained.

Peter glanced at Hank and Charlotte. The deja vu was stronger to Charlotte. "Show him," she told Logan.

Taking a deep breath, Logan unsheathed his claws before the boy's eyes. Peter's eyes widened in surprise, and it brought a smile to Charlotte's face. It reminded her of the first time she realized that she wasn't the only mutant in the world.

"That's cool, but disgusting," Peter told Logan.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte wasn't sure she felt comfortable asking a kid to help them with this. The last time she asked children to help in a dangerous mission, most of them ended up dead or harmed.

"Are you sure your mother's alright with you coming with us?" she asked Peter as they sat in the back seat of their rental car. Logan and Hank were sitting up front with Logan driving since she was such a "terrible" driver.

Peter shrugged. "Eh, I saw her take a bottle upstairs before we left. She won't even notice I'm missing, and my sister just went to a neighbor's house, so we're good."

Charlotte frowned. What kind of mother didn't keep a close eye on her children? She inwardly winced at her own harshness. Maybe if she had kept a closer eye on her own children they would be with her right now instead who knows where.

"So, who are we breaking out?" Peter asked excitedly, breaking Charlotte from her thoughts. "I saw your blueprints in one of your cases? We're actually breaking into the Pentagon? Cool."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, a little amused by his excitement. "I suppose it is cool, but it's dangerous. The man we're breaking out is a high-class criminal, very dangerous. He can control metal," she explained.

The boy's eyes widened. "Wow. So do I run in, grab him, and meet up with you guys?"

"It's not that simple, kid," Logan said as he drove them.

Charlotte nodded her head in agreement. "He's right. The only way into his cell is through an elevator they keep in the kitchen. Once you're in, there will be dozens of guards, along with security cameras, and metal detectors so the prisoner won't use any of it to help him escape. Hank will create a diversion while you, Logan, and I go in and get him. How much weight can you carry?"

Peter shrugged. "I'm pretty strong. How do you think I was able to take that arcade game and bring it all the way down to my room by myself?"

The kid stole that thing all by himself?

"Okay, then. If things get bad during this, we'll need you to be our escape plan," Charlotte told him.

Peter grinned at her. "No problem."

Charlotte felt her heart freeze for a moment. Where did she see that grin before? Not from Marya or her husband Django if Charlotte remembered correctly. This was too familiar.

She looked at Logan questionably, but his focus was on the road before him. For once, she wished she had her powers just so she could see what secrets he was carrying. She shook her head.

It was just a coincidence. Besides, Marya and Django were expecting a baby at the time she met and tried to help them. After all, they were related to a mutant, it's possible that mutation can run in a family. And besides, Peter had just one sister a few years younger than him. Charlotte couldn't believe the midwife would separate her twins from each other just like she had been separated from them. It wasn't possible.

As they made their way to the Pentagon, they had to stop so they could change into more suitable disguises before they went in.

Charlotte had packed a professional looking outfit with a white button up shirt, a dark blazer, and matching pants, no skirt. She had to look professional and be able to run in it. It wasn't to impress her ex when she saw him again. Absolutely not. The only thing keeping her from planning to stab him the moment she laid eyes on him was the fact they needed him to help find Raven.

She had no feelings for him whatsoever. None. Zip. She had moved on. She was over it. Over him. At least that's what she kept repeating to herself as she changed in the bathroom of the market store they stopped at. She looked in the mirror, wishing she had thought to buy makeup, but instead washed her face as best as she could. She still looked pale, but a little healthier looking. Now, should she put her hair up or leave it down? She didn't know why she was so worried over her looks. To hell with it, she would leave it down. She always looked better with her hair down and in curls. Besides, she might need to flirt with the guards to get themselves in. brushing her hair out, she looked in the mirror, and approving what she saw, finally left the bathroom.

Now, to get Erik out of prison and find Raven. Oh, and try to not kill him until this mess was over. That last one would probably be a little tricky.

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys think? Do you guys prefer this length or the longer chapters? I'll talk more about the Maximoffs' background and Charlotte's history with them as the series progress. The next chapter will be up in a day in or two. Please review and let me know what you guys think of this.**


	14. Days of Future Past: Chapter 13

**Well, this chapter took longer to write than I'd planned. I hope you guys like this next one. I think Charlotte is justified in her anger with Erik. After all, leaving her bleeding on the beach and taking her sister with him and not speaking to her throughout the year before his arrest, any woman would be ticked off with him and have murderous thoughts.**

 **Well, enjoy this chapter. I think it turned out well.**

Chapter 13

People think that because Peter was nine-and-a-half years old he was stupid but he wasn't.

When they first came here as foreigners, Peter's father had been forced to steal so they could eat until he could get an honest job. Then Ana had been born, and Django began to teach Peter how to steal and how to break into stuff. Until Django was caught and arrested by the police. He would have had fifteen years for all his thefts if the war in Vietnam hadn't gotten worse and he was drafted. Several months later he was killed somewhere in the Vietnamese jungles, leaving eight-year-old Peter, his mother, and two-year-old sister to fend for themselves. Luckily, his mom got a nice paying job as an accountant despite her drinking, and they were able to afford a nice roof over their heads.

Then Peter's powers came in. It took him a while to get use to them, but now, Peter couldn't imagine his life without them. He always knew he was different. He looked nothing like his parents, and now these powers of his made him all the more different. He was able to steal and provide more for his family than his father ever could without getting caught. Well, most of the time. He got a thrill breaking into and places and doings without anyone able to catch him.

It was no problem at all finding his way to the kitchen where the elevator that Miss Charlotte had told him about was. She and that claws guy, Logan were too slow, so he sped ahead of them just in time to watch a guard carrying a lunch plate into the elevator. He made it in just before the door closed, knocking the guard's hat off him from the wind he made.

The man bent down to pick it up, not noticing Peter right behind him until he saw his reflection in the elevator. Turning around, he looked at Peter, startled.

Peter grinned then took out the duct tape he always carried with him. He had fun taping the guy all up against the wall after stripping him of his uniform. Miss Charlotte had said that they had metal detectors so that meant Peter had to leave all his belongings, including the Star of David necklace his father had given to him before he was taken away. With great reluctance, he took it off from around his neck and placed it with his other belongings in the corner out of sight. Next, he put the guard's uniform on. It was slightly big, but Peter had hit a couple growth spurts since his powers kicked in so he was pretty tall for his age. He was also quick to make any adjustments to the suit, so it was able to fit almost perfectly by the time the elevator doors opened.

Carrying the lunch tray, he calmly made his way down the hallway of guards even though his belly was a jumble of nerves. It reminded him visits to his father in prison, but the security here was more heavy and strict. He noticed the guns in the guards holsters. Plastic instead of metal. They were pretty serious about this no metal policy.

He stopped and they scanned him for any metal on him. He held his breath.

Clear.

He continued on until he stopped at the end of the hallway. How was he to get in? He turned to the guard down the hall behind him, and the guard hit a button on his end. The wall before Peter slid back until he saw the opening in the room. He walked inside. It was dark except for the light coming from the room below the glass windows on the floor. As he made his way to the shaft where he would drop the tray in, Peter looked to see the prisoner he had come to break out. It was a man, probably the same age as Peter's parents with dark hair and wearing a gray prisoner uniform. He seemed decent looking and also familiar to Peter, but he didn't know why. Bending down, he dropped the tray into the shoot.

Erik had been laying in his cot with his eyes closed when he felt the lunch tray hit his pillow. Opening his eyes, he noticed something different about it. There was a piece of paper inside it. Sitting up, he bent to look closer at it. _Mind the Glass_.

He looked up and was surprised to see the face of a young boy in a guard's uniform. The boy grinned at him. Then kneeling down, the boy placed his hands on the glass. Erik stood up. What was he doing? Then heard rumbling and looked up. Was the glass shaking? The boy was smiling in excitement.

Then Boom!

Erik was barely able to cover his face as the glass poured down on him. luckily , he wasn't cut. He heard the alarm go off and the door closing, sealing him and the boy inside. He grabbed the frame and pulled himself up.

"In three seconds those doors are going to open, and twenty guards will be here to shoot us," he told the boy, glancing behind him before turning back to face the door. He felt a breeze and nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his wrist and neck.

"I know. That's what I'm waiting for," the boy said, excitedly. Was this kid sane?

Erik looked at him through the corner of his eye. "What are you doing?"

"I'm holding your neck so you don't get whiplash," he explained to Erik.

"What?" Did Erik hear him right?

"Whip-lassssh!" the boy repeated in a much slower tone.

How would Erik get whiplash? The door opened before he could ask, and just like Erik had predicted, several guards came in, pointing plastic guns at them.

"Don't move!"

Erik felt his insides push back as all of a sudden he was taken out of his cell and brought in the elevator in a blur. He felt nauseous, leaning against the elevator wall as he tried to regain his bearings.

Peter, once seeing that the man was not going to collapse from their trip, quickly changed back into his old clothes, happy to put his Star of David back around his neck where it belonged.

Erik heard the boy take a deep breath behind him, and turned, quickly doing a double take when he saw that the boy had changed in less than two seconds, and also when the boy looked at him. He was a lot younger than Erik originally thought him to be. He couldn't be more than a decade old, and those eyes of his… Erik didn't think he had ever seen so bright of blue eyes on anyone. Except for one person that is.

Turning away, he braced against the wall, waiting for the nausea to pass by.

"You're good. It'll pass. It happens with everyone," Peter assured him. He looked at the man seriously. He didn't look dangerous, but his father had warned him that looks can be deceiving. After all, that was a lot of security to keep one man in. "You must have done something pretty serious. What'd you do, Mister? What'd you do? What's you do? Why'd they have you in there?"

Erik rolled his eyes, sighing in annoyance as the kid pestered him. "For killing the President."

Peter felt his eyes widen and his mouth drop open. He turned to look at the guard still duct taped to the wall. He whispered a curse he knew his mother would slap him for, but this was an emergency. He was in so much trouble!

The silence didn't sit well with Erik, and he felt the need to defend himself to the kid. "The only thing I'm guilty of is fighting for people like us." The kid was a mutant. No question about it after what Erik had seen what he could do. It was important that the kid knew the significance of his kind.

"Do you take karate? Do you know karate?" Peter asked. All the cool supervillains and superheroes knew karate.

Erik felt tired and the nausea came back. "I don't know karate, but I know crazy."

Peter giggled, and Erik couldn't help but smile. There was something nice about it.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte had been ticked and terrified when she realized Peter had snuck away ahead of them. Logan had reassured her that he would be fine, but it didn't work much. If anything happened to him, Charlotte didn't think she would be able to forgive herself to letting down another mutant kid.

They broke off from their tour group and made their way to the lower levels to the kitchen and heard the fire alarms activated and sprinklers set off. Hank's distraction was working. Charlotte stepped into the kitchen, Logan following her as they got wet from the sprinklers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a code red situation," she announced. The cooks were leaving the kitchen, but the guards remained at their spot as Charlotte and Logan made their way towards them. "We are evacuating the entire floor, so that we, my… er… associate and I can… uh… secure the perimeter," she stumbled on that last bit.

Logan rolled his eyes.

"Who are you?" one of the guards demanded.

"We are…" Charlotte tried to think of a perfect excuse. "Special operations CB-FB-CI...D"

Logan sighed. Really? That's the best she got?

The guards obviously didn't believe her bullshit either.

"Look, perhaps you didn't hear me when first I spoke," Charlotte tried to tell them forcefully. "But it's imperative that you understand we are in complete lockdown situation. We have to get you to the third floor-"

Logan had enough of this. Shoving one of the guards down, he grabbed a sauce pan, hitting the other man in the head then throwing the other guard over the counter, leaving Charlotte opened mouth, speechless.

Logan turned to look at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you finished?"

Charlotte closed her mouth and kneeled down at one of the guards, taking out his keys.

000{{*}}000

"They told me you control metal," Peter said.

The kid had been talking nonstop throughout their ascent, but it was this that caught Erik's attention. "They?" he asked. Who did the kid come with?

"Hey, I think my parents once knew a guy who could do that."

Awkward silence filled the elevator.

Erik looked at the kid again, and his eyes widened when he saw the Star of David around the boy's neck. Was that his? Erik use to carry around a Star of David in remembrance of his family. He had made it out of scrap metal on the boat to his first trip to America, making sure the edges were sharp incase he would have to use it as a weapon. Then after Cuba, he realized he had left it at the Xavier mansion and didn't have the courage to go and retrieve it, and risk running into Charlotte. How did this kid have it?

Erik didn't have the chance to ponder further when the elevator doors rung.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte turned the key in the elevator's lock.

"Sorry," she said to Logan. "I'm just not very good with violence."

The doors opened, and Charlotte turned around.

Crystal blue meet steel like eyes.

Erik blinked. Was this real? Was he dreaming that he had escaped his cell, and Charlotte was waiting for him, and standing on her own two feet?

"Charlotte?"

Charlotte had been stunned once she saw Erik. He was older, but still as handsome as ever if not more. Then he spoke her name, and the memories of all the pain and hurt he caused her came rushing back to her.

Erik had not expected the punch Charlotte threw at him. He didn't even think she could hit that hard given her size and her pacifist ideals. But she hit him in the face so hard he fell to the ground and tasted iron.

Charlotte gasped, cradling her bruised knuckles. That hurt more than she thought it would.

Erik touched his lip and grimaced. It seemed Charlotte had busted his lip. "Good to see you too, Liebling, and walking."

Charlotte glared at him. "No thanks to you."

Erik got up, and looked at Charlotte. She looked different from the last time he saw her, more world weary. Her hair was longer, and she was soaked from all the sprinklers running in the kitchen. Kind of like the night he first met her. Still beautiful. "You're the last person in the world I expected to see today," he admitted.

"Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to," Charlotte told him, coldly. Erik was actually hurt by that. "If we get you out of here we do it my way. No killing."

Erik motioned to his head. "No helmet. I couldn't disobey you even if I wanted to."

His teasing grin infuriated Charlotte. Of all the times he wasn't wearing that fricking helmet, she didn't have her powers, but he didn't need to know that. "I'm never getting inside of that head again," her voice was like knives. "I need your word, Erik."

Peter watched all this with growing curiosity. Miss Charlotte and the guy, Erik. The way they were looking at each other reminded Peter of his mom and dad when he was younger. Had they dated a long time ago? He may be a kid, but he noticed the way both Miss Charlotte and Erik were looking at one another: furious but with a tender spark in both their eyes.

Charlotte's words pierced into Erik, reminding him of the pain he had caused her over a decade ago. He hurt her enough. He could at least give her this. He nodded.

The kitchen doors opened and guards suddenly came flooding in. "Nobody move!"

Charlotte spun around.

"Hold it right there!" one of the guards ordered. There were a dozen of them and they were all pointing plastic guns at them.

Charlotte took a step back and nearly bumped into Erik as the elevator doors closed behind them.

"Charlotte?"

Charlotte shook her head. Erik glanced at her. What was wrong with her? Why wasn't she using her telepathy to stop them?

"Freeze them, Charlotte!" The men would shoot them, and he wouldn't be able to keep his promise in not killing anyone.

"I can't," Charlotte's voice sounded small.

What? Erik looked at her surprised. What did she mean that she can't? Erik decided to focus on getting out of here alive first then finding out later. He felt the metal in the room. After ten years it felt like he had stepped into fresh air. But as the metal rumbled and shook, the guards looked at them in worry before aiming their guns at them.

"No!" Charlotte grabbed onto Erik to stop him.

Metal flung into the air.

Plastic triggers were pulled.

Logan's claws came out of his knuckles.

For Peter, everything was going in slow motion as he put his goggles on, and placed his headphones on, tuning out the world around him, and did what he did best: run. It was like being in his own world. In it no one would bother him, and no problems could plague him.

He climbed up the wall, feeling the water on his face from the sprinklers. Everytime, it always amazed him and never ceased to please him as he ran by stuff frozen in midair. He touched the soup falling in midair and tasted it, enjoying its spicy flavor. He continued running, smacking the back head of one of the guards and tapping the cheek of another. He pushed another one down as he jumped from the wall, continuing his run as he grabbed a plate and threw it at another guard. He gave another guard a wedgie, remembering how uncomfortable it felt when kids use to do that to him. He skimmed over a table, knocking newspapers down. He tossed the plastic gun out of the hands of another guard before making one of them into a fist and positioning it to punch himself in the face. He ran over to two guards and positioned their arms so that they would hit each other in the face. Noticing the hat on one of the guards looked pretty cool, Peter snatched it and placed it on his head. He looked back at where Logan, Miss Charlotte, and Erik were. Oh yeah, he almost forgot about the plastic bullets. He ran over to them. They were close to hitting them, but they were moving at a slow enough pace for Peter to move them. He moved the ones coming at Miss Charlotte's chest and eyes away then the ones aimed at Erik's neck and cheekbones. He smiled in accomplishment. That should be everything. He sped away from them, and let time speed up.

The bullets shot past Charlotte and Erik, hitting the wall behind them. The wind Peter caused nearly knocked them over and the shots slightly startled them, causing Erik to lose his concentration and drop all the metal in the room. All the guards collapsed to the ground, unconscious but alive. Charlotte and Erik looked across the room, staring at the boy, Peter who must have done all of this, speechless.

Peter just shrugged, taking off his headphones.

Exchanging a glance, Charlotte walked away from Erik. Erik looked at Logan beside him, glancing at Logan's unsheathed claws before following Charlotte. Charlotte nodded gratefully at Peter as she passed him, Erik glanced at him, and Logan patted his shoulder. "Thanks kid."

Peter just nodded before following after them.

000{{*}}000

Maybe letting the Professor and Magneto sit together in the back seat wasn't a good idea Logan thought. Both of them were silent, their gazes averted from one another, and they tried to sit as far from each other as possible. Peter was sitting in between them, thankfully, and Logan had the feeling that's why Charlotte chose to sit in the back with Erik. Charlotte didn't know it yet, but her motherly instincts had kicked in, obviously wanting to protect the boy incase Erik decided to try anything. Logan was relieved to see some of the Professor he knew inside the young woman. She may not be there yet, but it was a start. Now, to get Charlotte and Magneto to work together to find Raven. That was the question. He had seen the way they had looked at each other the first time in the kitchen. It was the same look the old Professor and Magneto would share in his timeline, full of anger and love. Charlotte could protest all she wanted, but Logan knew that the young woman still harbored strong feelings for the master of magnetism, and judging from the glances the man kept sneaking her way when no one was looking, it seemed that he returned them as well. Now Logan, while he didn't understand or approve of their relationship, knew he needed to figure a way for them to work out whatever problems they had. He could feel the sexual tension between so badly, and he had the feeling that Hank could sense it too.

She wasn't talking to him. She wasn't even looking at him, obviously pissed off at him. That much was clear to Erik. She had changed so much. She was so different from the hopeful woman who stopped him from drowning in an attempt to stop Shaw ten years ago. The woman before him now seemed more bitter and had lost hope for the future. What happened to her? Erik knew it wasn't just him shooting her in the back and leaving her on that beach with her sister. He remembered the day he found out about her paralysis, her smiling and laughing with the children, despite being stuck in a wheelchair. Something else happened to her, but what? A million questions flowed in Erik's mind. How was Charlotte walking again? Why didn't she have her powers? Why did she break him out now? What was this all about? He couldn't ask her any of this because the kid they brought with them was talking a hundred miles per minute.

"That was awesome! Did you see the looks on their faces? I've never broken anyone out of jail before. I mean, yeah, I've stolen a lot, and even managed to spray paint the local police station once, but I've never broken anyone jail. I can't wait to tell my sister Ana. or maybe I shouldn't because my mom will find out and the last time I did something wrong, she tried to return my games back to the arcade."

Seriously, did the kid even pause to take a breath in between his sentences? Erik had trouble keeping up with him, but it seemed that Charlotte didn't have the same problem.

"It's probably best that you don't tell anyone about this, Peter," she said real patiently.

"Oh, is it because he killed the president?" Peter asked, pointing at Erik.

Tense silence filled the car.

Erik stiffened. "I didn't-"

"Erik, not now!" Charlotte snapped.

Erik clenched his jaw angrily, grinding his teeth. She wasn't going to give him the chance to explain himself?

Charlotte turned her attention back to Peter. "Yes, and because of that, people are going to look for him, and if they hear that you helped him escape, it will bring a lot of trouble to you and your family," she explained to him.

Understanding filled the boy's eyes and he nodded. "Okay. Don't worry. I've been lying to cops for as long as I can remember. I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," Charlotte said, relief evident in her voice. "Now, why don't we all play a game called the Silent Game?"

"Silent Game?" Peter asked.

"Yes, we all stay as quiet as possible and the first person to speak loses," Charlotte explained.

Erik narrowed his eyes at her. This was her way not to talk to him?

"Okay, I can do that. What do I get if I win?" Peter asked.

"It's a surprise."

Erik withheld a growl, crossing his arms over his chest. Nice try, Charlotte, but she couldn't ignore him forever. She'd done that enough over the past ten years.

He snuck a glance at Charlotte and was surprised to see her smiling gently at the boy and was reminded of the old days when they were recruiting and training the children. How her smile could brighten up any room, and cheer the children up including himself.

Maybe there was still a bit of the old Charlotte Xavier somewhere inside her.

000{{*}}000

 **Well, that chapter was longer than I had expected. I had a rough day watching my sister yesterday which is why I wasn't able to publish this sooner. Ever since my other sister went on her cruise with her friend, my mom's been depending on me to watch my youngest sister.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had a little fun writing it, although I will be honest with you, I had to rewrite that last bit of the chapter. It didn't feel right and it was taking up too much room. This one feels much better. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	15. Days of Future Past: Chapter 14

**Another chapter I enjoyed writing. Lucky for me, my mom took to watching my sister the other day in exchange for my doing the dishes and cleaning the upstairs hallway so I was able to write this chapter up. I hope you all enjoy it.**

Chapter 14

Amazingly, Peter won the quiet game, and as a reward, as soon as they were out of D.C., Charlotte gave him enough money to buy three pizzas, six sodas, and teo ice cream cones with five scoops each at their next stop.

There was still a tense silence as they drove to the private airstrip where the jet was. They got out, and Charlotte took out a set of clothing from the trunk. They had been Erik's when he left them at the mansion after Cuba. Charlotte had taken them out of storage before they left. Charlotte handed the clothing to Erik, ignoring his questioning gaze. He went inside the plane to change out of his prison uniform, Logan following him.

Charlotte turned to Peter. The boy had helped them a lot and risked so much for them. Charlotte was surprised to discover how sad she was to see him go. There was something about him, and not just because he was a mutant, but something so familiar it pained her not to know why. Sadly, she knew it didn't matter what she was feeling. Peter had his own family to return to, and he had already risked his life more than he should have.

"Peter, thank you very, very much," Charlotte told him. "You take care."

She held her hand out for him to shake, and he took it, smiling. "Hey, I saw your flight plan in the cockpit. Why are you going to Paris?" he asked.

Charlotte exchanged a look with Hank. Nothing Peter saw or knew about should surprise them. "To help a friend," Charlotte answered. "You better get home."

Peter frowned, looking down at his shoes.

"Hey," Charlotte placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're a tough kid. A brave and good one. Never doubt that."

A smile appeared on Peter's face and the sense of deja vu hit Charlotte like a brick.

"You're a nice lady too, Miss Charlotte. Maybe we'll see each other again someday," Peter said.

Charlotte grinned. "Maybe we will."

"Well, I guess I'll be going now." Peter turned away.

"Peter," Charlotte called.

He stopped and turned back to her.

"Take it slow." She did a mental facepalm. Did she really say that?

Peter smiled, then he was gone.

Charlotte turned to Hank who was grinning at her. "What?"

"Nothing." He climbed into the place.

Charlotte sighed before following him up.

000{{*}}000

Erik finished doing the last button of the shirt Charlotte had given to him. It did feel good to be out of those prison clothes.

He saw Logan sitting in a seat in the back where he came out. A newspaper was laying on the table in front of him. Erik reached out to grab it, only for three long claws to shoot out from Logan's knuckles. The man glared at him, and Erik returned it, struggling to keep a tight hold on his temper. "Imagine if they were metal." He would have so much torturing the man with them.

He sat down on the couch a little way from him. "Where did they dig you up?"

He wasn't actually looking for an answer to that, but Logan leaned forward on the table in front of him. "You're gonna find this hard to believe, but you sent me. You and Charlotte. From the future."

Erik looked at him incredulously. Was this man joking? Erik studied his face and found no trace of humor in it.

Hank and Charlotte then came in, and Hank went to the controls to start the plane up. Erik then listened as Logan finally explained to him what this was all about.

Mutants hunted down and on the verge of extinction.

He, Charlotte, and a handful of surviving mutants on the run and hiding from these Sentinels created by this Bolivar Trask.

And it would all happen because Mystique would assassinate him at the Peace Accords in Paris.

What had happened to her during all these years? Erik remembered her in the year before his arrest. She had become a close friend to him, almost as close as her sister, Charlotte. Yet, she would be the reason mutants would be hunted down and exterminated, and what was Charlotte's plan? Just fly to Paris, ask Mystique not to kill Trask, and take her home? Charlotte no longer knew Raven as well as she use to. Erik had seen the changes in her, and knew she would be more stubborn than that.

As Hank flew the plane, Erik could feel Charlotte's gaze burning into him. It brought to his mind that moment in the kitchen when she couldn't freeze the guards, and the questions that had been plaguing his mind since then. "How did you lose them?"

"The treatment for my spine affects my DNA," Charlotte answered. She had been expecting this, but it was still hard.

Erik looked at her incredulously. "You sacrificed your powers so you could walk?" How could she do that? Her powers were among the many amazing things that made her special, made her the woman he had fallen in love with and still loved to this very day. What on earth possessed her to trade them in just so she could walk?

Charlotte tried to keep back the tears threatening to appear. "I sacrificed my powers so that I could sleep." She turned her head away. She would not let him make her feel guilty. He didn't know of the pain she went through when she lost her babies. Their babies. The loss of them had opened her mind to all the pain and suffering to everyone around and those she couldn't help. "What do you know about it?"

Erik stared at the woman sitting in her seat away from him. Who was she? "I've lost my fair share."

"Ha!" Charlotte laughed dryly. He, who took her only family away, paralyzed her, and left her to pick up the pieces of the life he shattered. "Dry your eyes, Erik. Doesn't justify what you've done."

Erik narrowed his eyes, and clenched his fists. "You have no idea what I've done." Faces of the men he killed never leaving him because he had to protect his fellow mutants, to protect her.

"I know that you took the things that mean the most to me." He destroyed her life, and she waited for him like a lost puppy, hoping he would come walking through her door, but he didn't. She had been such a naive fool, and he burned her beyond repair.

"Well, maybe you should have fought harder for them," Erik spat.

 _That's it._ Rage filled Charlotte. Rage she had kept in for years. Since Cuba, since Transia, since the loss of her students and everyone she ever loved. It all came rising, and Charlotte was more than happy to unleash it on Erik. She stood up from her seat, Erik doing the same. "If you want a fight, Erik, I will give you a fight!"

"Sit down!" Logan ordered, tired by all this drama crap.

"Let her come," Erik told him. Charlotte couldn't hurt him anymore than she already did.

She grabbed his shoulders. "You abandoned me! You took her away, and you abandoned us!"  
Charlotte screamed at him. For ten years she had kept the secret of her twins from everyone except a very few. She didn't care what Logan had told her, the absence of her children and sister had created a dark hole in her heart that had grown everyday since she lost them.

Erik stood there stoically, not flinching as Charlotte screamed at him "angel," he spoke.

Charlotte stopped.

"Azazel. Emma. Banshee," he said their names, not paying attention to the plane as it began to tilt.

Logan looked around worriedly, and Hank struggled to control the plane as it moved against his will.

Erik focused on Charlotte as she struggled to stay standing, raising his voice. "Mutant brothers and sisters… all dead!" The plane dipped, and Charlotte fell, everything crashed onto the floor. "Countless others, experimented on, butchered!"

"Erik!" Hank tried to yell at him. He was losing control and the plane was losing altitude. Erik would kill them all if he didn't stop his rampage.

"Where were you, Charlotte?!" Erik roared at her, and it scared her. She had never seen him this furious with anyone, let alone her, and it frightened her.

Even Logan was a little scared as he struggled to hang on.

"We were suppose to protect them! Where were you when your own people needed you? Hiding! You and Hank! Pretending to be something your not!"

"Erik!" Hank yelled. The ocean was in view. They were going to crash!

Erik released the plane, but continued to glare coldly at Charlotte. "You abandoned us all!"

Charlotte couldn't hide the pain she was in. Not physical pain nor the pain she felt from Erik's lashing at her, but the pain that came from the truth in his words.

The plane leveled, and Hank and Logan both breathed in relief, but not Charlotte or Erik. The two of them continued to stare at one another. Erik could see the hurt in her eyes, and it made him feel horrible. Charlotte turned away and joined Hank in the cockpit to see if anything had been damaged during Erik's tirade, and also to get away from him.

Erik watched her as she walked away. He hated how vulnerable he felt at this moment, and all because of her. Charlotte Xavier, the only woman on the planet who could provoke this feeling in him.

Logan watched all this, still recovering from that scare. At least he knew where Wanda, Peter, and Lorna all got their tempers from. "So you were always an asshole."

Erik stiffened, turning to the timetraveler. "I take it we're best buddies in the future."

Logan chuckled humorlessly, lighting his cigar. "I spent a lot of years trying to bring you down, bub."

"How's that work out for you?" Erik asked with narrowed eyes.

"You're like me," Logan told him. "You're a survivor."

A sense of uneasiness fell on Erik, something he couldn't understand.

Logan took a puff of his cigar before motioning to all the cutlery that had fallen during Erik's outburst. "You gonna pick all that shit up?"

000{{*}}000

Paris

Sitting at the bar in the french club as she waited for the Vietnamese general brought to her mind memories of Oxford, flirting with classmates alongside Charlotte. The fun they had. But Mystique was no longer that girl yearning for attention.

She was on a mission.

She saw her target approaching her way, and prepared to be bumped by him. He barely touched her, but she made sure to make it look like it was enough to spill her drink. She turned to face him. The general looked at the spilled drink and immediately apologized to her n french.

"I'm pretty sure it was my fault," she reassured him in Vietnamese.

The general looked at her with surprised delight. "You speak Vietnamese."

"I'm an interpreter," Mystique told him. She leaned forward and smiled seductively. "I speak many tongues."

The general smiled nervously and excitedly. "Let me buy you another drink, unless you're here with someone."

Mystique stiffened. "I'm alone," she answered. She was no longer a student with her sister, nor was she a member of the Brotherhood who should have had her back.

The general didn't seem to notice her change in mood, just ordered a bottle of whisky for them. Mystique plastered a smile for him.

Later, they were in his hotel room. The general was preparing their drinks for them while Mystique casually wandered around the room. She saw an open invitation to the Peace Accords. "You're going to the Summit tomorrow?"

The general glanced at her curiously before smirking. He shrugged his jacket off. "A pretty girl interested in politics."

She smiled slyly. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Lady," he spoke in English, approaching her with their drinks. "Show me more… baby? Clothes off?"

Mystique opened her coat. Her body shifted from the seductive blonde to her natural blue form.

The general's smirking face changed to a look of horror as he watched her change.

"What's the matter, baby?" she asked sweetly. "You don't think I look pretty like this?" She threw her coat down and lift her leg high, pinning the man to the wall and holding her foot to his neck. He struggled to breath for a minute before he lost consciousness. Mystique lowered him down, picking up the invitation she saw earlier. It invited the general to the Peace Accords Ceremony. The same one where Trask would be at. She glanced down at the general at her feet. Now, for the next stage of her plan.

000{{*}}000

After an appropriate amount of time passed, and it was certain Charlotte and Erik weren't going to start another shouting match, Logan took a seat near the cockpit and closed his eyes to get some sleep.

Erik found, among other things a chess set on the plane. The pieces contained metal in them so he was able to arrange them with no problem.

Charlotte looked up and raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Was this his way of a peace offering?

Erik tried not to feel nervous as Charlotte looked at him with her blue eyes. "Fancy a game?" he asked. "It's been a while."

"I'm not in the mood for games, thank you." She turned her head away from him.

Erik ignored the sting, and took a glass, filling it with whatever alcohol Charlotte was drinking. "I haven't had a real sip in ten years," he said quietly. He took a sip, letting it burn down his throat. The silence was unnerving, and he couldn't stand it any longer. Not with Charlotte. "I didn't kill the President."

Charlotte sighed. "The bullet curved, Erik." She had seen the video, filming the President's last moments before he was shot. It had been because of that moment Charlotte was glad that she never told Erik about her pregnancy.

"Because I was trying to save him," Erik defended himself. She had to know. He needed her to believe him. "They took me out before I could"

What? Charlotte was confused. "Why would you try and save him?" she asked, looking at him.

"Because he was one of us," Erik told her.

Charlotte stared at him. She couldn't read his mind to see if he was telling the truth, but she could read his eyes. While his face was always hard for anybody else to read, Charlotte had always been able to read his eyes like they were a book only she could read. In them she saw his honesty and sincerity. All these years, she thought… guilt filled her of all the horrible things she had thought about Erik. She scoffed at herself. "You must think me an idiot."

Erik said nothing.

"We've always said that they would come after us."

"I never imagined they'd use Raven's DNA to do it," Erik admitted.

Charlotte hesitated for a split second. "When did you last see her?" Her voice sounded so soft, so broken.

Erik say in his seat in front of her. "The day I left for Dallas."

So much time had passed, but Charlotte needed to know. She needed to know if her sister was alright. "And how was she?"

Erik leaned back in his seat, remembering. "Strong. Driven. Loyal."

"How… how was she?" Charlotte repeated. She knew Raven was all that, but what about her mental state? Had she been hurt?  
Erik hesitated. In that year, Raven had become such a close friend to him, like a sister. It hurt him just thinking about all the pain she had been through that year, especially when they lost Angel and Azazel. "She was…" Erik hesitated. Raven had trusted him with her condition before he left for Dallas. He could only imagine what she went through when Emma was killed and he was taken.

Charlotte watched his struggle, not helping her worry. Was Raven okay? Was he hiding something?

Erik finally met her gaze. "I could see why she meant so much to you."

Charlotte let out the breath she had been holding, and took another sip from her drink.

"You should be proud of her, Charlotte," Erik said, leaning forward. "She's out there fighting for our cause."

"Your cause," Charlotte corrected him.

Erik sighed.

"The girl I raised, she was not capable of killing."

"You didn't raise her, you grew up with her," Erik told her. "She couldn't stay a little girl forever, that's why she left."

"She left," Charlotte said, trying not to raise her voice. "Because you got inside her head."

Erik scoffed. "That's not my power. She made a choice."

"But now we know where that choice leads, don't we?" Charlotte asked him, her throat tightening as she thought of all the horrors that awaited for them. "She's going to murder Trask, they're going to capture her, and then they're going to wipe us out."

"Not if we get to her first," Erik said. "Not if we change history tomorrow."

Charlotte looked at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She wish she had his confidence.

Erik's eyes softened as he looked at her. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. For what happened. I never meant to hurt you."

Charlotte took a shaky breath, looking down at her lap before finishing her drink. "It's been a while since I've played," she said, turning her attention to the chessboard Erik had brought over.

"I'll go easy on you," Erik offered. He grinned, holding his glass up. "Might finally be a fair fight."

Charlotte smiled. It was small and weak, but it was a smile. "You have the first move."

Erik moved a pawn with his powers.

The next hour consisted of them playing a round of chess.

"I'm sorry for punching you earlier," Charlotte apologized.

Erik's hand went to the lip she busted. He hadn't thought about it for a while. "I've had worse." He shrugged, moving a knight.

"It's not just that, Erik," Charlotte said, placing her hand over his on the table.

Erik froze.

"I'm sorry for being a coward," she whispered, tears beginning to sting her eyes once more. "It was selfish of me. I just couldn't take the voices any longer. All their pain, their suffering when I couldn't even handle my own pain, let alone everyone else's. I took the easy way the moment it presented itself. For that I am so sorry," she whispered and a tear fell down her face.

Erik's heart broke. He'd almost forgotten how empathetic she was and the level of pain he must have caused her. He squeezed her hand, his silent way of forgiving her. He wasn't a forgiving man, but for Charlotte… he would try.

They stayed like that for a while, their chess game forgotten.

"Could you answer me this?" Charlotte asked.

Erik looked at her.

"When…" Charlotte took a deep breath. "When we were recruiting, training, all of it, did you ever care for me?"

Erik felt his heart break further. Didn't she know? "Why do you think I shut you out all those years ago? You were my weakness. You are the only woman I've ever truly loved."

Charlotte's breath hitched and another tear fell. "I waited for you," she whispered.

Erik's eyes widened.

"It was the hardest year of my life. Losing you, losing Raven, and losing… the use of my legs. The whole time pretending everything would be alright, and you and Raven would come home, and…" she stopped. The faces of her two darling babies flashed in her mind. The faces she and Erik had created together. Throughout her pregnancy, she had let herself believe that Erik and Raven would come home and everything would be alright. But as time went by, and Emma refused to give her the slightest inclination as to where they were, Charlotte began to lose hope.

"Charlotte," Erik breathed. He had no idea.

"I'm sorry." Charlotte pulled away and got up, going to the back room of the plane and closing the door.

Erik sat there in his chair, shocked by what had just happened. All these years… he never knew. He told himself after that day on the beach she would be better off without him, that she could never love a monster like him, and yet all that time she had been waiting for him.

"Go to her."

Erik looked back at Logan. He thought the man had been asleep. Had he been listening this whole time?

Logan was looking at him from his sleeping position. "Go to her, Lehnsherr," Logan repeated.

Erik narrowed his eyes at him. "Why?"

Logan sat up and looked at him. Erik was surprised to see the wisdom and grief in the man's eyes as he spoke to him.

"Trust me, a love like that… you don't often get it in a lifetime, and when you do, you never know when you're going to lose it." Logan saw the hesitation in the young Magneto's eyes. "Believe me, over the years and even after all the things you've done to her a blind man could see how much she loves you. Don't know how, don't know why, but she does. When you have a love like that you can't ever let it go."

Erik hated to admit, but Logan was right.

He got up and went to the backroom, using his powers to open the door and close it behind him, locking it.

Charlotte turned around, startled, her eyes red from crying. "Erik, what-"

She didn't finish as his mouth was suddenly on her's, pushing her against the wall, and taking her by surprise. Charlotte couldn't believe this was happening. Even as she felt his hands bury themselves into her dark ebony locks. Even as she felt his lips part her's. She had to be dreaming. Then she felt his tongue tangle with her's and she was swept up in the sweet, fiery passion she always felt with him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her at the same time she felt his hands roam down her body.

She broke the kiss, leaning against his head, gasping for breath. She felt her fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. He helped her with them and slid his shirt off, before moving on to her shirt, both of them desperate to feel each other's skin against their own. Charlotte kissed Erik again, passion filling her to the core as he pushed her against the bed that was in the room. In this moment, all the pain she had suffered in the last ten years was gone and she was swept up in Erik as he made love to her.

000{{*}}000

In the cockpit, Hank turned around to look at Logan as the man lit another cigar. "Is there a reason you told him that stuff?"

Logan shrugged, taking a puff of his cigar. "Let's just say you guys will thank me someday," he answered. After all, if he remembered correctly, Polaris' birthday was about nine months from now.

000{{*}}000

 **Whew! That was longer than I thought it would be. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what guys think of this.**


	16. Days of Future Past: Chapter 15

**Sorry it took so long to post, with work and everything it was difficult to be able to write in between everything. Happy Belated Father's Day to all the dads out there! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 15

The next morning they were just an hour away from Paris.

Charlotte and Erik had both dressed and were both sitting in the main room of the plane, neither of them speaking a word since they woke up. It had been a wonderful and blissful night. One that filled them both with happiness, but also worry and confusion.

Charlotte didn't know what to feel. She was afraid to even hope, remembering the last time that had happened. But then she thought of everything that Erik had told her last night, discovering that he wasn't the monster she'd been lead to believe for so many years. She thought of her babies. Should she tell him about them? If they were alive as Logan had told her then they could find them together. Charlotte inwardly shook her head. Her focus needed to be on Raven right now, her sister. As soon as this mess was over and they were all safe. She would tell Erik. for now, she needed to keep their existence a secret, keep them safe.

Erik, meanwhile was filled with guilt, an emotion he didn't often allow himself to feel. Last night had been the happiest he had in years. He never realized how dead he had felt for all these years until he had been with Charlotte last night, and she brought him to life. However, just like he knew all those years ago before Cuba, it could never be. He would only bring her more pain if he didn't already. He had a plan for what he would do as soon as they found Mystique. Charlotte would never forgive him for what he had to do. It would be the hardest thing Erik would ever have to do, and the cost would be everything, but he had to.

Both lovers' thoughts were on finding Raven and preventing the horrible that laid before them.

000{{*}}000

They snuck in through the back entrance. Guards tried to stop them, but Erik took them out with a metal gate, and moved any obstacles in their path. They got out of the car, Charlotte and Erik walking side by side with Hank and Logan behind them.

No one looked at them suspiciously as they made their way through the hotel, looking for the room where Raven would kill Trask, but there was no way to determine which room it was. There were so many, and they didn't have enough time to go through them all.

"Where should we start?" Hank asked.

Men suddenly came rushing downstairs in terror.

"That way," Charlotte pointed.

They pushed through the throng of men running past them, and they made it to the room just in time to see Mystique pointing a gun at Trask.

"Raven!" The sound of her sister's voice was enough to distract the woman and tear her gaze away from Trask and at Charlotte and Erik as they entered the room.

A soldier, lying on the ground from Raven's attack fired his taser at her. The shock sent Raven collapsing on the table, shaking as the electricity went through her.

"Raven!" Charlotte shot to her side while Erik used his powers to remove the wires and deflect them at the soldier. The man fell to the ground, shaking just as Raven had been.

"Raven," Charlotte spoke gently as if she were talking to a wounded animal.

Raven slowly stopped shaking, surprise and relief going through her as she realized her sister was holding her. "Char?"

Charlotte smiled in relief. Her sister was here. "Yes, it's me. We've come for you, Erik and I. together." Oh, she was so happy to see her little sister again.

Raven couldn't believe it. Charlotte was here, and with Erik. She had missed them so much. "I… I never thought… I'd see you again."

Charlotte smiled tearfully. "We're sisters. We'll always find our back to each other."

During the sisters' reunion, Trask looked in alarm as his tracker beeped crazy. All four of the newcomers were mutants!

Logan glanced down at the man still convulsing on the ground as the taser remained on his neck. There was something familiar about him. Logan looked closer at him. That face… an older and more malicious one appeared in his head. Stryker's face. Terror shot through Logan, the feeling of pain and helplessness as needles drilled into his skull. Hot burning pain melting into him at the same time he was surmised in water, suffocating as he struggled to breath. _Wolverine._ He collapsed against the wall. Hank look at him in worry.

Erik watched as Charlotte comforted Raven, promising to keep her safe and away from them, his heart so heavy he actually hesitated for one moment. This would be the hardest and most painful choice of his life. Using his powers, he pulled the gun off the table and into his hand, pointing it at the sisters.

Raven's eyes widened in alarm as she saw this. "Erik?"

Charlotte's expression matched her sister's as she instinctively tried to shield her. "Erik? What are you doing?"

It hurt Erik to see both women looking at him with such fear and betrayal, especially Charlotte, but he continued to look at them stoically. He had to do this. He spoke to both sisters. "Securing our future. Forgive me, Mystique. As long as you're out there we'll never be safe."

Raven couldn't understand. Why was he doing this?

Hank couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe Erik would do this. "Erik."

Raven looked at her sister, and Charlotte could hear the fear in her voice. "Use your powers, Charlotte. Stop him!"

"I…" Charlotte felt helpless.

Erik looked at them coolly. "She can't."

"Raven, run!" Raven didn't hesitate at her sister's command. She sprung off the table to the window.

Erik pointed the gun at her, but Hank tackled him down. Erik used his powers to fire the gun, directing the bullet around Charlotte's head, and following Raven as she jumped out the window before it hit her in the calf.

Pain shot through Raven as she fell. The bullet tearing through her skin, broken glass cutting her before she landed on the pavement, dimly hearing the screams of the people around her.

Erik punched Hank, shoving the man off him before Charlotte attacked him, fueled by the need to protect her sister from him. "Erik, stop!" He punched her and she fell to the ground. Erik got up, glancing at Trask who ran from the room, and Logan who looked to be in a state of shock. With no more obstacles in his way, Erik continued after Raven, taking the film Trask had been showing earlier.

Outside, Raven shakily got up. She felt sore all over, and she could feel blood trailing down her calf. She saw people looking at her in fear and surprise. She looked at one woman in the crowd and shifted to look like her. The crowd gasped and screamed in alarm and astonishment, backing away from her.

000{{*}}000

As Logan struggled to get past his episode, in the future, Wanda struggled to keep her hold on him as he began to thrash in his sleep. "He's slipping! He's slipping back! I'm losing him!"

The older Charlotte and Erik looked at him in worry.

Logan's claws shot out and he thrashed his arms wildly. Peter, Bobby, and Kitty all jumped back to avoid them, but Wanda who was unable to was caught in one of them. Flaring pain shot through her as Logan's claws tore through her leather jacket and her side, causing her to scream in agony.

Erik used his powers to hold Logan's hands down. "Restrain him."

Peter and Bobby immediately did so.

000{{*}}000

In the past, Erik levitated himself out of the building down the pavement below.

A woman was limping away, and he knew it to be Mystique. Feeling the metal bullet still lodged in her calf he pulled. The woman fell, screaming in pain as she was dragged to him. Mystique's disguise faded, and her cries tore through Erik as she was brought to him.

"Erik!" she cried.

He pulled the bullet out of her, and it floated above his hand.

Meanwhile, Logan looked around the room he was in. What was going on?

Charlotte got up painfully, groaning a bit. "Where am I?" she heard Logan whisper. Was he alright?

He got up, looking confused and scared. "How the hell did I get here?"

"What?" Charlotte was confused. "You came to us."

"Who are you?" Logan asked.

"Charlotte."

He grabbed her arm none too gently. "Charlotte Xavier," she repeated.

"I don't know you," he said.

"Huh?" What was going on with him? She suddenly realized he was in an episode like the ones Erik and a lot of her students went through.

Hank stood up in his Beast form. Logan jumped back scared. "What the hell is that?!" he shouted.

Beast growled at him. _Please not now._ Charlotte stood between them, her arms out. "I can handle this," Charlotte told Hank, her eyes on Logan. "Just go. Stop Erik!"

Raven was shaking and panting with fear. Why was Erik doing this? He was her friend he would never harm her, but here he was. She could see it in his eyes. He was going to kill her. "Erik, please!"

Raven's begging was a knife into Erik's heart as he prepared himself to harm another Xavier sister. "I'm sorry." Before he could finish his job, Beast collided with him.

Erik rolled on the pavement, hitting the back of his head hard. He tried to get up, but Beast grabbed him, throwing them into the water fountain nearby. Erik gasped for air as Beast held his head underwater. He fought and struggled, but with Hank in Beast mode he was much stronger than Erik and capable of keeping him down.

People screamed as they watched the two mutants fight. Raven got up painfully.

Charlotte spoke calm and gently to Logan. "You're Logan, that's Hank McCoy, I'm Charlotte Xavier. You spent the last couple of days with us," she explained to him. Nothing seemed to be registering or helping him calm down. "You're on acid," she told him. It seemed a plausible explanation. "Somebody gave you really bad acid, yeah?"

Erik struggled to survive as Beast held him down, his powers lashing out at any metal nearby. Metal gates shook and cars were tipped and pushed by a magnetic force. The gates were flung away, and people fled the scene in terror all the while filming everything.

Raven fled the scene as well, shifting into an old man, limping through the crowds.

Erik was losing air, his grip on Beast's arms slackening, and he stopped struggling. Suddenly, the metal in the fountain grabbed Beast, pulling him away, and holding him back as Erik got up from the water.

Stryker pulled the wires of his taser off him, finally stopping the electricity going through him.

"Just hold on tight, we'll get through this together," Charlotte reassured Logan.

Stryker pulled himself up and rushed out the door, grabbing Logan's attention. The man stopped at the door, looking at Logan's claws. Both men's eyes met then Stryker was gone.

Erik trudged out of the fountain, water dripping from him as he searched the crowds for Raven. Cameras were on him, fear in everyone's faces as they watched him, but he couldn't see her. She could be anyone, and even with her wound, he wouldn't be able to separate her from this thick of crowd. French policemen pointed their guns at him, and he flung them away with the wave of his hand. Screams sounded and everyone ran from him as he walked down the streets looking for Mystique.

Hank struggled against the metal restraints Erik had put him in. he saw people filming and taking pictures of him, their faces filled with fear as they looked at him. He wanted to get out of here. He pulled with all his strength and broke from his restraints. People screamed as he ran away.

000{{*}}000

In the future, Peter and Bobby succeeded in strapping Logan's hands down.

Wanda whimpered in pain as she tried to regain her hold on Logan.

"Oh, Wanda." Peter went to his sister's side and saw the wounds Logan had inflicted on her. "She's wounded pretty bad."

Kitty came over and looked at it, dabbing the blood flowing from the cuts. "They're too deep. I have to stitch them."

Tears fell down Wanda's face. Logan's body relaxed, his claws going back into his skin. Wanda looked up at her parents. "I got him."

Some relief came by that news, but now Wanda was injured, badly. Who knows how much longer she could keep this up.

000{{*}}000

In the past, Logan gasped as he recovered from his episode and remembered his mission. He saw Charlotte standing in front of him. "Professor?"

Charlotte smiled in relief. "What happened to you?"

Logan shook his head. "I just saw someone who's gonna bring me a lot of pain someday."

Charlotte looked at him in sympathy.

Logan looked around the room. "Where's Raven?"

"Gone," Charlotte answered, looking at the shattered window. Her heart broke at losing her again, but she knew Raven had to get away from Erik before he killed her.

"What?"

"We have to get out of here," Charlotte told him. She could hear the police sirens outside.

They quickly left the room, going downstairs, and following the people leaving the hotel. News cameras surrounded the hotel entrance, everyone wanting to know what had just happened. Logan and Charlotte looked through the crowd. There was no sign of Raven, Erik, or Hank. they quickly fled the scene before anyone could detain and question them.

000{{*}}000

It was all over the news.

The unidentified assailants who wrecked the Peace Accords were all anyone could talk about. The news played all the films that had captured the horrific attack at the hotel while Raven was being treated for her wounds. Her ribs had been bruised from her fall, and glass had cut her skin, but the bullet had been the worse. She was lucky Erik hadn't hit any important arteries.

The nurse was wrapping her leg up when they saw the image of herself in her natural blue form on the television. "Terrible thing," the woman said as they watched.

"What is?" Raven asked.

"Being born like that," the nurse said, sounding sorrowful.

"Is it?" Raven asked. She use to think that way for decades. From the time she was born, Raven had lived with fear and hatred of everyone around her, including her own parents all because of the way she looked.

The nurse continued, not knowing her patient was the very person they were talking about. "Can you imagine looking in the mirror and seeing that staring at you?"

"Yes, I can." Raven knew more than anyone. Everyday she would look in the mirror and wish that she had been born normal. It didn't matter how much Charlotte told her otherwise, inside Raven wished her eyes weren't such an unusual amber, her hair an offset red, and her skin a scaly blue. She would wish she was a normal looking human.

"Where do you think she comes from?" the nurse wondered out loud. "You think she has a family?"

"Yes," Raven whispered. "She does."

She had a sister who had loved her and protected her for so many years. A sister who just earlier tried to protect her from Erik. she thought of seeing Charlotte's face for the first time in ten years. Grief and hardship and marred her youthful and beautiful features, and Raven had the feeling that she was one of the many reasons for that. She had loved her sister, and had missed her, but things had changed. Raven was no longer that innocent girl who teased Charlotte, stayed up all night giggling as they talked about boys, and played pranks on their stepbrother. She had done horrible things. Things that Charlotte would never understand. Trask needed to die. He had killed so many mutants and would continue to kill. Mutants like Charlotte, Hank, Alex, and so many others. She had to find him and end him.

But first, she would find Erik.

000{{*}}000

Erik was looking through the film the same time he stitched the wound on the back of his head.

The images of the Sentinels filled him with dread. Trask had put so much thought into these things. They were walking machine guns capable of tracking any mutant nearby, and they were made up of a nonmetal alloy he wouldn't be able to control. These things could easily slaughter any mutant that dared to fight them.

Erik had left the news on when something the reporter said caught his attention. A picture of Raven showed on the screen followed by forensics swabbing bits of blood on the pavement that had been spilt during the fight.

 _No._

No. No. No.

Horror filled him. He had failed. They had her DNA and they would use it to advance their program and wipe all mutants out.

He couldn't let that happen.

He had to stop them.

000{{*}}000

Erik was walking among the crowds in the substation. The feeling of all the metal around him felt enticing, but he couldn't focus on that. He had to get back to the states and end this.

A homeless man was standing around, his hand out, begging for money.

Erik was just about to pass him when the man suddenly grabbed him, slamming him inside a phonebooth, taking him by surprise.

The man shifted into a beautiful blonde woman that glared menacingly at him. Raven. "If I see so much as a screw move, I will jam this into your throat," she threatened, and Erik could feel the sharp glass needle against his skin. She was more than angry, she was furious. Erik couldn't blame her.

"How did you find me?"

"You taught me well."

He did. Pride filled him. "I missed you."  
"You tried to kill me." Raven would not let him distract her with pleasantries. Not after what he did to her and her sister.

"So the rest of us could live," Erik told her.

What? "What do you mean?" Raven asked him.

Erik began to explain to her. "We received a message from the future."

Did Erik think her stupid? "Don't lie to me," she warned him.

"I never have, and I never will," Erik told her. "Humans use your blood, your genes, to create a weapon that wipes us all out. I was only doing what I thought necessary to secure our future."

"So what's to stop me from killing you right now, and securing my future?" Raven questioned him, more than happy to push the needle into him.

"Nothing," Erik answered, surprising her. "Doesn't matter anymore. They have your DNA. your blood was on the street."

Raven removed the glass needle away and pushed away from him. "Whose fault was that?" she angrily asked.

Erik flinched. "Mine. I've seen their plans. They're creating a weapon and now they have what they need to take it further," he explained to her urgently. There was so much at stake. She had to see past his mistake in trying to kill her and help him stop this. "We have to strike now, while we still hold the upper hand."

Raven was shocked by all this. All these years she had seen first hand what war could do to people. She had seen so much death, it plagued her mind everytime she closed her eyes. "I've seen too many friends die, Erik," she told him. "I don't want a war. I only want the man who murdered them."

"This is war!" Erik angrily reminded her. "What happened to you? Did you lose your way while I was gone? Are you still Charlotte's Raven? Or are you Mystique?"

Raven was quiet. These were questions that had plagued her mind for years ever since Erik was taken and the rest of the Brotherhood was slaughtered. She had changed. She was no longer the girl Charlotte or Erik believed that they knew. She looked up at Erik. "Trask is the enemy."

Erik shook his head, narrowing his eyes at her. "Killing one man isn't enough."

"It never was for you," Raven softly spoke.

Erik faltered.

"Goodbye, Erik." She left him in the booth.

Her words were so similar to her sister's. Erik wondered if she even realized it. He stepped out of the booth and into the crowd. There was no sign of her.

She was gone.

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys think?**


	17. Days of Future Past: Chapter 16

**Hey guys. Sorry I haven't updated earlier, but this week has been crazy. My mom hasn't been feeling well so I've been having to watch my youngest sister a lot lately and she's been most difficult recently. Also, last night I got called in to work a shift for one of my coworkers and it was difficult. I've been so tired recently, but I wanted to get this chapter typed up as soon as possible for you guys. I hope you guys like this one. Your support has meant so much to me these last several days.**

Chapter 16

After meeting up with Hank, they had gotten on the plane back to the States. They had lost Raven and Erik with no way to find either of them.

They returned to the mansion in Westchester, and had just walked through the doors when Charlotte gasped in pain, falling to her knees.

"What happened?" Logan asked as Hank helped her sit down. "Can she walk?"

"She needs her treatment," Hank answered him as he set her down on the steps.

A scared and pained look was on Charlotte's face. "Hank, I can hear them." All those voices screaming at her.

"I know. It's okay," Hank tried to sooth.

"Can you make it stop?" Charlotte asked, desperately.

"I'll get them." Hank ran up the stairs to go get the syringe.

Logan watched as Charlotte trembled, covering her ears in a faint attempt to block everything out. "Hey, pull yourself together," Logan told her. "It's not over yet."

Charlotte gasped, her eyes widening at him. "You don't believe that."

Logan looked at her in surprise. "How do you know?"

"As these go," Charlotte pointed at her legs then to her head. "This comes back. They all come back."

Logan walked away and tried to think of something that could help her. This wasn't his forte. The Professor he knew knew how to comfort someone. He didn't. "Look, I'm… I'm still here," he said to her.

Charlotte took her jacket off, and began to roll her sleeve up.

"And she's still out there," he reminded her. "But we need your help, Charlotte. Not like this. I need you. We can't find Raven. Not without your powers."

Charlotte froze, looking at him like he was insane.

Hank came running back down, carrying a syringe. "I added a little extra because you missed a dose."

Charlotte took thee syringe and held it against her arm, ready to inject it into her veins.

"Charlotte," Logan spoke.

She glanced at him. He was looking at her in a way that made her feel incredibly guilty. She wasn't the Charlotte Xavier he knew. She was a coward. She tried to force the needle in, but she could not inject herself with it. She out the syringe down, and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself. She looked at Hank standing next to her. Hank, who had helped and take care of her for all these years, and one of the few she trusted.

"Hank? Will you do me a favor?" she asked. Hank looked at her. "Would you help me to my study, please?"

His face softened and he helped her up, guiding her to her study, and leaving the syringe behind on the ground.

Logan followed them in as Hank opened a closet in the study.

"Are you sure about this?" Hank asked Charlotte.

Charlotte shook her head. "Absolutely not." She was terrified of this.

In the closet, with a layer of dust was her wheelchair.

000{{*}}000

Logan followed Charlotte in her wheelchair to the room where he knew Cerebro was. The place looked like it hadn't been used in years. Dust was collecting everywhere. "When was the last time you were down here?" he asked.

"The last time we went looking for students," Hank answered.

"A lifetime ago," Charlotte told him. She seemed scared and vulnerable.

They stopped before the door and it scanned her. "Welcome, Professor," it recognized, and the doors opened.

Cerebro in this timeline looked so much like the one Logan had known in his. While not as modern, it had its similarities.

Charlotte went up to the consul and picked up the helmet. Hank leaned next to her, flipping the switches on the machine on. "Raven's wounded. She won't be moving fast," he said.

Charlotte blew off the dust from her helmet. "These are muscles I haven't stretched in a long time," she tried to sound confident, but there was no way she could hide her nervousness from the two men behind her.

She placed it on her head and Cerebro came alive. She gasped. She could hear everyone. All their pain, their suffering, their anger, their sorrow… it overwhelmed her, and she thought she would drown in all of it.

Logan and Hank watched her in worry as she struggled. The levels on the machine were going wild, and Charlotte looked to be on the verge of an anxiety attack. "Charlotte!" Logan tried to call her. "Charlotte!"

Charlotte screamed in pain and it all stopped. Glass in the machine broke, causing the men to turn away from it. Charlotte tore the helmet off her head.

"Charlotte? It's alright," Hank said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, and looking at the machine. Charlotte panted. "I'll go check the generator." Hank left Charlotte alone with Logan.

"It's not the machinery, is it?" Logan asked her.

Charlotte shook her head. "I can't do this. My mind-"

"Yes, you can," Logan insisted.

"It won't take it."

"You're just a little rusty."

"You don't understand!" Charlotte shouted at him. "It's not a question of being rusty. I can flip the switches. I can turn the knobs. But my power comes from here." She pointed at her head then her heart. "It comes from… and it's broken." She pulled away from the controls. "I feel like one of my students. Helpless." She started to wheel out of Cerebro. "It was a mistake coming down here. It was a mistake freeing Erik. This whole thing has been one bloody mistake!" She had been such a fool to trust Erik again, and she was a fool to believe that she could handle Cerebro again after so many years. "I'm sorry, Logan, but they sent back the wrong man!"

"You're right," he agreed. "I am."

Charlotte stopped at the entrance. He walked over to her. He wasn't good at this, but the Professor once told him a long time ago that the best lessons learned were the ones you taught yourself. "Actually, it was supposed to be you, but I was the only one who could physically make the trip. And, uh…" He stopped in front of her. "I don't know how long I've got here. But I do know that a long time ago, actually, a long time from now, I was your most helpless student." He kneeled down on her wheelchair. "And you unlocked my mind. You showed me what I was. You showed what I could be. I don't know how to do that for you," he admitted. "You're right. I don't. But I know someone who might."

 _Who?_ Charlotte wondered.

"Look into my mind."

Was he insane? "You saw what I did to Cerebro. You don't want me inside your head," she told him.

"There's no damage you can do that hasn't already been done. Trust me," he assured her. "Come on."

Hesitantly and cautiously, Charlotte placed her hands on his temples.

 _He was drowning and in pain._

 _A woman smiling kindly and gently at him. "Hey."_

 _Screams of pain._

" _Hey, Logan."_

" _Hi, Jean."_

" _Kill me," Jean begged._

" _I love you."_

 _Claws stabbed her. Logan's mournful cries as he held Jean's body in his arms._

No, no more. This man lost everything. His memory and Jean, the love of his life. He had been through so much pain and suffering. Tears swelled in Charlotte's eyes. "You poor, poor man."

"Look past me," Logan tried to tell her.

Charlotte didn't want to see anymore. "No, I don't want your suffering. I don't want your future!"

"Look past my future," Logan insisted. "Look for your future."

Hesitant again, Charlotte went inside his mind, dimly hearing his encouragement.

She opened her eyes, and found herself no longer in Cerebro with Logan. She was lying on a table in some kind of monastery. She sat up and looked around her. There were people in here with her. She saw a young woman projecting scarlet energy into Logan's mind. She seemed to be in pain as a much younger woman was kneeling beside her, and looked to be putting stitches in her. Two young men stood beside them, watching in concern. Was that man Peter?

She turned her head and saw two older mutants. The man wore a familiar dark cape, his features while older were so familiar. Erik.

The other mutant was an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Charlotte couldn't believe it. She kneeled before the woman, gripping her armrests.

"Charlotte."

Charlotte smiled in disbelief. "Charlotte." She looked at the Professor before her. There was a wisdom and kindness in the older woman that Charlotte no longer saw in herself. She looked around her surroundings. It all seemed so hopeless. "So this is what becomes of us. Erik was right. Humanity does this to us."

The older woman didn't agree with her. "Not if we show them a better path."

"You still believe?" How could she after everything she had been through. After everything they have been through.

"Just because someone stumbles, loses their way, it doesn't mean they're lost forever," the Professor gently said to her. "Sometimes we all need a little help."

Charlotte shook her head. "I'm not the person I was," she said to her. "I open my mind, it almost overwhelms me.

The Professor nodded, understanding and remembering. "You're afraid, and Cerebro knows it."

"All those voices," Charlotte whispered. "So… much… pain."

"It's not their pain you're afraid of. It's yours, Charlotte. And as frightening as it may be, that pain will make you stronger. If you allow yourself to feel it, embrace it, it will make you powerful than you ever imagined. It's the greatest gift we have, to bear their pain without breaking. And it's born from the most human power: hope."

Charlotte saw images in her mind. She saw students, mutants walking down familiar corridors. Her students in her mansion-no-school. They were all smiling, laughing, and happy.

"Please, Charlotte, we need you to hope again," the Professor said.

"We have faith in you, Mom."

Charlotte turned her head, and saw the young woman from before with the scarlet energy. The young woman had auburn locks, curly and wavy like hers, her nose like Erik's along with his narrow cheekbones, her lips red and full like Charlotte's, and her eyes the same sapphire blue as Charlotte's. And around her neck was the metal rose Erik had given to Charlotte so many years ago, and the same one she lost along with her twins. Then suddenly, she knew.

Her daughter smiled tearfully at her. "We'll see each other again. I believe that."

Charlotte didn't want to leave, not when her daughter was standing right before.

"We love you, Mom. never forget that."

Charlotte pulled away and she was back in Cerebro.

"Find what you were looking for?" Logan asked gently.

Charlotte was barely aware of the power coming back on, and Hank coming back. "Power's back on."

"Yes," Charlotte spoke, looking at Logan. Logan smiled. "Yes it is."

She thought of her future: her daughter, students, Erik, and her older self. She would try Cerebro again, and this time she wouldn't shy from the pain. She would find Raven and bring her home.

000{{*}}000

Trask Industries was shipping their Sentinel prototypes to D.C. that night.

Erik had watched them prepare to be taken by train and just like the plans he'd seen, he could feel no metal in them at all. He would have to do something about that.

He waited a good distance away to ensure no one would see him. When the train came by, he pulled himself up onto one of the train cars. Reaching out, he pulled the metal out from the train tracks. He carefully carried several rods into the boxes each carrying a Sentinel. Focusing, he broke the metal into strands, running them throughout the machines' bodies, making sure he would be able to control any part of them. Once he was done, he hid in one of the boxcars until they would arrive in D.C.

The humans would think they had won, but Erik would show them how wrong they were, and how powerful he and his fellow mutants were. They would not be hunted down and murdered again in the future.

000{{*}}000

In the future, even though it had been two days, everyone was still tensed and on edge, if not more as they guarded the monastery and waited for the Sentinels to find them.

Inside, Kitty finally finished tying the final stitch in Wanda's wounds. They had run out of drugs to numb the pain weeks ago, so poor Wanda had to endure the pain of every excruciating stitch Kitty had done. It had pained Kitty as much seeing in her so much pain, and she tried to be as quick as possible, but the wounds had required almost thirty stitches, and during that time Wanda had lost a great deal of blood. She was also losing her strength.

Kitty pulled Wanda's family aside to tell them that. "She's lost too much blood. She can't keep going like this." She could see the worry in their eyes, even Magneto.

"We don't have a choice, Kitty," Erik whispered. He didn't like this, but what else could they do?

Peter was agitated. He had watched as Kitty stitched Wanda up. He had given his glove for wanda to bite down on, and saw the tears fall down her face during the process. It hurt him to see his sister in so much pain that he wanted it to stop. Logan had been asleep long enough while his sister pushed herself to the brink. "We can wake him up." He moved towards Wanda and Logan, but his mother stopped him.

"No!" Charlotte's eyes showed the pain of this, but also the need to do this. "They need more time," she explained. "I had… a glimpse into the past. If we wake Logan now, we may set our fate on an even darker course. They need more time."

Peter's expression showed his pain and reluctance. He looked at his sister, pain and exhaustion showing in her poster as she continued to project scarlet energy into Logan.

000{{*}}000

The french airport was crowded, and Raven was waiting patiently for her flight. All these people had somewhere to go, and someone to be with. Raven… she had somewhere to go, but no one to be with. Everyone she ever loved had either pushed her away and she pushed them, or they were dead. She hated moments like this when she realized how alone she truly was.

"Raven, stop."

She was startled out of her thoughts. Who said that? She looked around and saw an elderly woman sitting across from her, looking at her. "Stop running," the woman told her.

Raven had never seen or spoken to this woman in her life, so that could only mean one thing. "Charlotte?"

The woman nodded.

Raven narrowed her eyes. What did she want? "Where are you?"

"Back at the house where you should be," Charlotte answered. "I need you to come home."

Raven shook her head. "I know what I need to do." She wouldn't let her sister change her mind. She got up and walked away from her.

"If you kill Trask you will be creating countless more just like him," a man sitting down said to her as she passed him.

"Then I'll kill them too," Raven told Charlotte.

"Those Erik's words, not yours," a boy passing her said.

Raven knocked into a flight attendant, dropping her passport. The woman picked it up before looking at Raven. "The girl I grew up with wasn't capable of killing. She was good, fair, full of compassion." The woman didn't look like Charlotte, but the way she was looking at Raven, almost made her believe Charlotte was standing right in front of her.

"I have compassion," Raven admitted softly. "Just not for Trask. He's murdered too many of us." She took her passport and continued on.

"Shut her down, Charlotte," Logan told her. "Get in her head."

"She's not letting me in." Raven had developed mental shields as they grew up, and since Charlotte had only recently started using her powers again it was easy for her to keep Charlotte out. "I'm barely holding on. I'm not strong enough yet." She would have to try something else.

Raven stopped with a gasp.

There, down the hall among the walking crowd was Charlotte standing. How…?

"I know what Trask has done," Charlotte told her gently. "But killing him will not bring them back. It will set you on a path from which there is no return. An endless cycle of killing. Us and them, until there is nothing left. But we can stop right now, you and I. You just have to come home."

Charlotte thought it was that easy. That not killing Trask will stop him from further torturing and killing mutants? She was wrong. "I have to?" Raven asked. "You haven't changed at all, Charlotte. Like I said, I know exactly what I have to do."

She saw the hurt and pain in Charlotte's expression. "You do?" she asked. "Then wherever you go, I will find you, and Raven, if you make me, I will stop you."

She seemed sorry that it had come to this. Raven was sorry too. "Good luck, Charlotte." She walked through Charlotte, ending her connection.

Charlotte sighed, taking the helmet off.

"Where is she?" Logan asked.

"She's in an airport, boarding a plane."

"What plane?"

She suddenly remembered picking up Raven's passport and seeing the destination. "Washington D.C."

"Guys, there's something I need to show you," Hank said.

He took them to his room where he had a couple of televisions hooked up. "I set the system I designed to record any news about Paris over all three networks and PBS," he explained.

"All three?" Logan said. "Wow."

"And PBS," Hank reminded him. "Look what I found." He pressed a button, and the screen in front of him showed a reporter in D.C.

" _Tomorrow in front of the White House, the President will make his announcement. He will be joined by Secretary of Defense Laird and has even sought the help of renowned scientist Bolivar Trask, his special advisor to combat the mutant issue."_

Hank stopped it.

"Raven doesn't realize that if she kills Trask at an event like that with the whole world watching…" Charlotte trailed off.

"Than I came a long way for nothing," Logan finished.

"And there's more bad news," Hank said. "I saw in a report they found traces of her blood in Paris. For all we know, they already have her DNA which is all they need-"

"To create the Sentinels of the future," Logan said.

"There's a theory in quantum physics that time is immutable. It's like a river. You can throw a pebble into it and create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do, the river just corrects itself. No matter what you do, the river just keeps flowing in the same direction," Hank explained.

"What are you trying to say?" Logan asked.

"What I'm saying is what if the war's inevitable? What if she's meant to kill Trask? What if this is just who she is?"

Charlotte suddenly remembered the words of her older self and the faith her daughter had in her. "'Just because someone stumbles, loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever,'" she said.

Logan and Hank looked at her.

"No, I don't believe that theory, Hank," she told him. "And I don't believe that is who she is. Ready the plane. We're going to Washington."

Despite the grimness of the situation, Logan couldn't help but smile. Now that was the Professor he knew.

Hank smiled too. It had been so long since he saw Charlotte like this with purpose. It filled him with hope that they could do this."

000{{*}}000

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this. I can't promise when the next update will be cause I have work and family reunions coming up this weekend, but I promise it will be Monday or Tuesday. Please review this and let me know what your thoughts are on this.**


	18. Days of Future Past: Chapter 17

**Thank you all so much for waiting this patiently. Can't believe I'm almost done with this section. Just one more chapter after this and next up will be Apocalypse, and I'm very excited to begin working on it. I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 17

The Pentagon was dark and empty with only a few guards patrolling the halls.

Erik easily got in. manipulating all the metal obstacles in his path. As he walked down the corridors, he took out two metal balls from his pocket and they floated above his hand.

He hated coming back to this place that had kept him prison and robbed a decade of his life, but there was something he had to get before tomorrow. It was a precaution just in case.

He neared his destination and saw guards in front of the door. Clenching his fist, he sent the metal balls out, knocking two of the guards out instantly. The third looked up from his desk, scared as the two metal balls circled around his head and Erik passed him. Erik heard him reach for the phone on his desk to call for help, so he slammed the balls into his head.

Standing before the door in front of him, he made it open along with all the other doors behind it until it revealed a room.

 _A trophy room_ , Erik thought with disgust.

There were display cases holding one of Angel's wings, Alex's burnt up suit from Cuba, the bloody coin Erik had forced through Shaw's skull, and in the middle of all of it, Erik's helmet.

He couldn't take the risk that Charlotte wouldn't be there to stop him, and with her powers. That's why he reached out and pulled the helmet out of its case and into his hand.

Now, to act on his plan.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte massaged her legs as they made their way to Washington on the jet. She felt like she did when she first woke up after Cuba and had to learn to cope with the paralysis.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked in his seat across from her.

"Getting there," she admitted. The confinement in her wheelchair and her telepathy were more difficult to deal with than she had thought. She noticed the nervousness in his mind, and he took a deep breath.

"Whatever happens today, I need you to promise me something," he said.

Charlotte nodded. He had done so much, not just for mutants but for her as well. She would give him this.

"You've looked into my mind and you've seen a lot of bad, but… you've seen the good too. The X-men. Promise me you'll find us," he said, leaning forward. "Use your power, bring us together. Guide us. Lead us. Storm. Scott. Peter. Wanda." He hesitated. "Jean. Remember those names. There are so many of us. We will need you, Professor."

He was entrusting her with all of this information. So much expectation that Charlotte was worried of letting him down. There were so many mutants out there in the world, but she wouldn't let that stop her. "I'll do my best," she promised.

"Your best is enough," Logan accepted. "Trust me."

She could only hope that she wouldn't let him down.

000{{*}}000

In the future, Warpath sensed a dozen carriers coming their way.

Charlotte felt his thoughts and turned to Erik in alarm. "They found us."

Erik looked at Logan, his eyes still closed, and his daughter, fading as she continued to project into his mind. He then turned to Peter, and a silent exchange passed between them. Together, both father and son walked out to help defend their friends and loved ones.

Charlotte watched them in growing worry.

000{{*}}000

Hank pushed Charlotte through the metal detector and it beeped.

"Can I see your invitations, please?" one of the guards asked.

"Yes, you may," Charlotte said, delving into his mind. "These two are with me."

"Go ahead." The guard let them pass.

She almost forgot how good that felt.

They continued to the set of chairs that had been set out on the White House lawn. There were cameras everywhere. The whole world eager to see this historic event together.

Hank and Logan stood beside Charlotte as she scanned the minds of everyone in attendance, searching for Raven. "I haven't found her yet, but she has to be here," she told both men.

The President was announced and everybody cheered as he came onto the stage.

Logan and Hank kept their eyes open for anything that would show them where Mystique was hiding. They listened as the President addressed his audience and presented the Sentinels behind the curtain. The crowds applauded, but a foreboding chill went through Logan and Hank as they saw the machines. These things would hunt down so many of their kind and bring about their annihilation.

000{{*}}000

Erik levitated down at the baseball field of the Roosevelt stadium.

There only one man there, pouring white chalk down and who looked at him weirdly in his strange attire. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"No, you can't." Nobody could. Erik felt the metal throughout the stadium and reached out, closing his eyes. Charlotte had once told him a long time ago that true focus lied between rage and serenity. He felt that now as he reached out, feeling all the metal around him and pulled. The stadium cracked as he lifted it and himself off the ground and made their way towards the White House.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte kept searching through everyone's minds, hearing their thoughts until she found one in particular.

 _This is for you, brothers and sisters._

Raven.

She was posing as a secret serviceman, and was getting ready to pull her gun out.

"Raven," Charlotte warned her. She froze Raven in midstep. "I have her."

"Let me go, Charlotte!" Raven growled. Trask was so close.

"There. You see?" Charlotte pointed to the person frozen still in the crowd. "Secret serviceman, left of the stage."

Logan and Hank wasted no more time, quickly heading towards her.

As Erik made his way towards the White House, he reached for the metal he had placed inside the Sentinels, activating them. The machines lit up at his command. They rose from the stage, and people applauded, unaware of the danger towards them.

Charlotte tried again to convince Raven not to make her choice. _Raven, please listen to me. We've been given a second chance to define who we are. Don't do this._

Hank and Logan were close to reaching her, but were stopped by an officer. How could they get to her without bringing trouble towards them?

The Sentinels flew above everyone's heads. They pointed their arms at one of the police cars nearby and fired.

Screams sounded and chaos was unleashed.

Charlotte lost her hold on Raven.

Everyone ran for cover.

"Erik!" Charlotte should have known. She couldn't feel his presence which could only mean he had his bloody helmet on. Innocent people were going to get hurt- no- killed because of him. She couldn't move very far in her wheelchair with everybody running around her as the Sentinels fired upon them.

000{{*}}000

In the future, as the carriers neared them, Storm unleashed a tornado that destroyed a few of the carriers into the mountains, but not before they released the Sentinels they were carrying.

000{{*}}000

As the Sentinels of the past continued to fire, Hank and Logan barely managed to dodge them as cars exploded around them, throwing them onto the ground.

The President and his Cabinet rushed inside the White House towards his safe room.

Mystique followed closely behind them.

000{{*}}000

Together, Magneto and his daughter Polaris lifted the Blackbird.

Storm, seeing this, gathered as much lightning as she could while they sent the jet out towards the approaching Sentinels.

Polaris ripped its coverings off, exposing its reactor to Storm. Filled with the lightning Storm unleashed it onto the jet. The jet went out in a huge explosion, taking everything in its path and flinging debris everywhere.

The mutants took cover.

Quicksilver grabbed his sister and pushed her behind one of the pillars while their father stopped any metal that came towards him.

000{{*}}000

In the past, the Sentinels floated in front of Erik as he made it to the White House with the stadium.

Charlotte removed her sunglasses as she saw a huge chunk come off the stadium.

"Charlotte!" she heard Logan call out to her.

Using all her strength, Charlotte flung herself out of the chair, rolling onto the grass when it fell on top of her, pinning her, but thankfully not crushing her.

Erik dropped the stadium around the White House, trapping everyone in and keeping everyone else out. He landed on the ground and made all but one of the Sentinels post guard on top of it to make sure no one would dare to come through his blockade.

000{{*}}000

Everyone came out of their hiding spots and checked one another for injuries.

"Is everybody okay?" Storm called out.

Quicksilver and Polaris turned to their father when they heard him groan in pain. Horror filled them as they saw a piece of a Sentinel sticking out from his side. Grimacing, he pulled it out.

Storm saw this which is why she didn't see the Sentinel jump from behind and stab her.

Charlotte gasped as she felt Storm's death like a knife twisting in her heart.

The Sentinel threw Storm's body over the cliff like a ragged doll. Bishop fired with a fury vengeance at the Sentinel.

"Behind you!" Warpath cried out, and everyone realized that they were surrounded by surviving Sentinels bent on their destruction.

Three Sentinels trapped Bishop as they torched him until he exploded in red energy, taking them out with him.

The rest of the mutants banded together in an attempt for survival.

Erik gathered all the metal in the courtyard and banded it together to shield the door where Charlotte, Wanda, Kitty, Bobby, and Logan were. He backed into it as two Sentinels came to him.

"Dad!"

All of a sudden Peter was right in front of him, his body shielding him as the Sentinel stabbed him. Peter fell into Erik's arms and he stumbled.

Shock hit Erik.

His son, in a foolish attempt had tried to save him! No!

He wasn't aware of the Sentinels trying to finish him off.

He wasn't aware of Kitty as she grabbed them both from behind and fazed them through the metal wall and tried to help him carry Peter into the room where his mother and sister were.

He wasn't even aware of his own physical pain as he sat down on the ground.

All he was aware of was his son Peter. The Sentinel had pierced him through his left lung and he struggled to breath. Erik held him close and did his best to comfort him. His skin was too pale and a thin trail of blood came from his mouth. Heartbreak and guilt filled Erik to the core.

"Dad…" Peter gasped in pain.

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Erik's heart would have rejoiced hearing his son calling him that for the first time in their lives.

"I'm here, Peter. I'm here," he whispered. He brushed his white hair aside from his face as his son drew his last breath. Only then did he look up and saw the tears pouring down Charlotte's face, and heard the sobs of his daughter as they felt Peter's death.

Charlotte could feel her heart splitting as she watched her love hold their son's body close to him, only allowing her to come forward and shut his eyes. Both of them shared their pain as they held their dead son together, as their elder daughter struggled to hang on to Logan through her own pain, and their youngest fought for her life and her friends' outside.

000{{*}}000

In the past, Magneto heard Beast's growels and saw him and Logan among the fallen rubble. He couldn't let them distract him again. He turned to the Sentinel behind him. "Do what you were made for." The Sentinel obeyed his command and began to shoot at them.

Erik sensed the metal inside the White House, trying to find where everyone was inside. "Where are you?"

There. He felt a metal box, a safe room. The perfect hiding place. He reached out with both hands to tear it out.

Movement from the corner of his eye distracted him. Logan. The mutant made his way over to Erik.

Erik had come too far to be stopped now.

He threw everything metal at Logan, but the mutant dodged or pushed everything until Erik hit him from behind with a chunk of cement with metal inside it. He made it break out of its hold and worm its way through Logan, piercing his insides until they ran all through his body. Logan screamed in pain as this happened and when Erik made him rise. _Such a shame,_ Erik thought remorsefully. "So much for being a survivor." With that, he flung Logan far away.

Turning his attention back to the White House, he focused on the metal safe room and pulled. It broke out of the White House and landed just a few feet from him. He opened the door of it and then ripped the whole wall, revealing the scared faces of the men hiding inside it. They reached for their metal guns, but Erik pulled them all away, and pointed them at the humans. He then turned around and moved the news cameras that had been abandoned at him.

Nearby, Charlotte groaned in pain as she regained consciousness, still trapped under the rubble.

Erik looked at the men cowering in the ruined safe room. "You built these weapons to destroy us, why?" he asked them.

"Because you are afraid of our gifts. Because we are different. Humanity has always feared that which is different. Well, I'm here to tell you, to tell the world, you're right to fear is. We are the future. We are the ones who will inherit this earth. And anyone who stands in our way, will suffer the same fate as these men you see before you. Today was meant to be a display of your power. Instead I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours. Let this be a warning to the world. And to my mutant brothers and sisters out there, I say this: no more hiding, no more suffering. You have lived in the shadows of shame and fear for too long. Come out. Join me. Fight together in a brotherhood of our kind. A new tomorrow that starts today."

000{{*}}000

In the future, it was a battle of survival. One in which the mutants lost more and more.

The Sentinels tore Colossus's body in half.

Warpath was torched.

Eclipse was stabbed to death.

The last survivors were Blink and Polaris who stood back to back and tried to take down as many Sentinels as they could. Blink opened her portals and directed the Sentinels' fire at each other while Polaris used any metal in the vicinity that her father hadn't melded to the door to pierce any weak links in the Sentinel's' armor. Sadly, their efforts were for naught. Three Sentinels reached them and stabbed them together. Lorna drew her last breath, her thoughts on her family as she drew her last breath.

Tears pour down Charlotte's face as she felt all their deaths. She turned to Erik, tears pouring down his face as well.

"All those years wasted fighting each other, Charlotte," Erik spoke softly, his eyes filled with pain and regret. "To have a precious few of them back."

He reached out and Charlotte took his hand in hers. Leaning down, she held his face in her other hand and their foreheads touched. Both of them sharing their feelings of love and the happy memories they shared together as they felt their end nearing them. Their tender moment was shattered by the banging of the door.

The Sentinels were trying to break in.

Bobby left them to delay the Sentinels a little longer, covering the entrance with ice.

Charlotte held Erik and their son close to her as their end came nearer.

000{{*}}000

After Erik's speech he heard a commotion behind him. The President had come forward and ordered his men to stand down. Erik turned to face him.

"You want to make a statement?" the President yelled at him. "Kill me. Fine! But spare everyone else."

Admirable, Erik will admit, but hypocritical. "Very heroic, Mr. President, but you had no intention of sparing any of us," he said, coming forward and pointing all the metal guns at the man. "The future of our species begins now."

He cocked the guns, ready to fire them upon the President when he heard the sound of a Sentinel charging at him. Why was it coming towards him? No matter, Erik easily tore it apart thanks to the metal he had infused upon it.

However, while his attention was taken off the humans, the President pulled out a plastic gun and fired at him.

Erik turned his head and the bullet struck the side of his neck.

The President's form shifted into the blue one of Mystique's.

It was a flesh wound, but the pain was enough to bring Erik down on his knees, and break his concentration on the guns and his hold over the Sentinels.

Raven came over to him, glaring coldly.

"You use to be a better shot," Erik muttered painfully.

"Trust me, I still am." She kicked him and then hit him in the face with the plastic gun. Erik fell to the ground out cold.

Then Raven turned around and pointed the gun.

000{{*}}000

 **Sorry to be leaving you guys with a cliffhanger. This chapter was a little more grim than I'm used to, but I hope that the next chapter will make up for my killing Quicksilver, Polaris, and everybody else off like that. I survived my family reunions, and sometime this week I plan on taking my sister to see the new Jurassic World for her birthday. The next chapter should be up in another day or two so stay tuned.**


	19. Days of Future Past: Chapter 18

**And here we are. Wow! I hope guys will enjoy this chapter. I know a lot of you are probably wondering where Wanda has been all this time, so this chapter will tell you a bit.**

Chapter 18

All the men in the safe room jumped back, but were suddenly frozen in midmovement. The image of Charlotte appeared right in front of Trask, directly in Raven's line of fire.

"Get out of my head, Charlotte!" she screamed.

"Raven," Charlotte looked at her imploringly. "Please, do not make us the enemy today."

"Look around you. We already are," Raven motioned to all the destruction around them.

"Not all of us," Charlotte said as Hank came over to where she was trapped and tried to help her out. "All you've done so far is save the lives of these men. You can show them a better path."

Hank watched as Raven continued to point her gun. "Shut her down, Charlotte."

Charlotte smiled at him enigmatically. "I've been trying to control you ever since the day we've met, and look where that's got us," she said to Raven. "Everything that happens now is in your hands."

The impact of her words caused Raven to breath shakily.

Charlotte smiled gently and comfortingly towards her. "I have faith in you, Raven."

Charlotte broke the connection and her hold over the men. They all looked at Raven in fear as she continued to point her gun at them. Raven's amber eyes were on Trask as he looked at her fearfully. He looked so small and scared.

Raven's hand shook.

000{{*}}000

The Sentinels torched Bobby as they broke into the monastery.

Kitty held Wanda as the woman grew weaker by the second. Both women looked up through their tears, and Charlotte watched as the Sentinels came closer until they reached them. They loomed over them like demons as they opened their heads up and fired.

The last surviving mutants closed their eyes in acceptance, and held on to one another as the end reached them.

000{{*}}000

The anger Raven had been holding on for so long was no longer there. Her went down and the gun fell from her hand. With that decision, the future was changed.

Charlotte exhaled in relief. They did it. She smiled at Hank and he returned it, relief filling them both.

Raven watched as the men's expressions changed to guilt and shame. They wouldn't arrest her. She turned to Erik still lying on the ground unconscious at her feet. She pulled the helmet off his head. "He's all yours, Charlotte."

Charlotte delved into his mind, and he awoke. She made him stand up. She felt his power and used it to lift the rubble trapping her. She gasped as she felt it be taken off of her, finally able to breath, and Hank helped her up, supporting her weight.

She released her hold on Erik, and he looked around confused until his eyes landed on his fallen helmet on the ground. Realization hit him, and he looked at Charlotte bleeding and covered in dust as Hank held her up. "If you let them have me, I'm as good as dead. You know that," he told her.

Charlotte nodded. "I know."

He stared at her, feeling her presence inside his mind, but not intrusively. She was telling him to go while he had the chance, and find happiness. "Goodbye, Liebling."

"Goodbye, Erik."

It was for the best. They brought each other pain and confusion. They needed a new start, a new beginning, and that couldn't happen if they remained in each other's lives. That didn't mean it would be easy. Each of them would always have a huge piece of the other's heart no matter what.

Erik looked at Raven, and she stiffened. She had changed and grown so much. She no longer needed him, or Charlotte, or anyone to help guide her.

He levitated himself away from the destruction, away from Raven, Hank, and Charlotte, and into a new life.

Raven watched as he left, and then turned to Charlotte and Hank. they smiled at her reassuringly, and she smiled back. She glanced at Hank, and a soft look was exchanged between them before she turned around and walked away from them.

Hank's eyes followed her until she disappeared among the ruins. "Are you sure you should let them go?" he asked Charlotte.

"Yes," she answered. "I have hope for them. There's going to be a time, Hank, when we're all together." Charlotte believed that.

"And what about Logan?"

000{{*}}000

He was drowning. That was the last thing Logan remembered before darkness swept him away. The next thing he was aware of was waking up to sunlight shining in his room.

Wait.

His room in the Xavier mansion.

In a daze, he got up and opened the bedroom door. A kid walked passed him. His eyes followed him until they landed on Bobby, who was smiling at Rogue as she joined him. They noticed him and they smiled, walking away and holding hands together.

He walked and saw an open class room with students. Kitty was teaching with Piotr by her side. Hank, in his blue Beast like form passed by him, dressed in a brown suit and carrying books. "Morning, Logan. Late start," he chuckled. Logan's eyes followed him in astonishment.

Was this real? Was this really happening? Was he dreaming or… was this heaven?

He made his way down the stairs and saw more familiar faces.

He saw Storm directing students to class, a happy smile on her face.

He saw Lorna levitating art supplies and her boyfriend Eclipse helping her. Wait, was she pregnant? Lorna seemed to be in the midst of a full term pregnancy as she and Eclipse made their way through the throng of students.

At the bottom of the stairs, Logan saw a familiar white mock of hair talking with two teenage boys and a little girl. Peter.

"See ya, Uncle Pete," one of the boys said before he dragged the other boy who looked to be his twin with him.

Peter knelt down to the little girl beside and whispered something. She nodded, smiling before hugging him. "Bye, Daddy."

"I'll see you after school, Luna," Peter said to her as she disappeared among the student body. He turned around and saw Logan coming down. Logan noticed a whistle around the speedster's neck. "Hey, look who finally got up. You know, you're going to be late for class," he said.

"What-" Logan couldn't ask what he was talking about because Peter zipped away. He sighed, rolling his eyes. At least some things never changed..

He watched as students happily made their way to classes when he smelled it. That familiar scent he never thought he would ever sense again. Not trusting himself yet, he turned and then he saw her. Leaning against the study doorway, dressed in red, her beautiful hair pushed on one side. He approached her cautiously. Was she real?

"Jean."

She turned and saw him, smiling. "Hey, Logan."

"Jean," he whispered again.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"You're here," he said, stunned.

"Where else would I be?" she asked, confused.

Logan couldn't believe this was real. Maybe if he reached out and touched her he would know. So he did, when a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Whoa!" Scott! He was alive too? "Easy pal," Scott said, grinning.

Logan realized this was all real. He let out a breath. "Some things never change." He patted Scott's shoulder. "Good to see ya, Scott."

Scott looked at him confused. "Uh-huh. See you later, Jean." He brushed past them, and that's when Logan saw them.

"Professor?"

The Professor and Magneto were going through a stack of notes together with their daughter Wanda. "And that should be all for now. I better get to my class," Wanda said. She leaned down and kissed both of them. "Love you both."

Logan's eyes widened in astonishment. Since when was Wanda on such good terms with her father? She walked passed Logan and Jean. "Morning, Logan," she smiled before she left. Logan was shocked.

"Logan, is everything all right?" Jean asked, her concern growing.

He looked back at her, the reality of the situation setting in. "Yeah."

Jean narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

A smile appeared on Logan's face. A real, genuine smile. "Yeah, I think it is."

Jean let it go, and left.

Logan's eyes followed her for a moment before he turned back to the Professor and Magneto. "You did it," he said to them.

They looked up from their paperwork.

"Did what?" Charlotte asked.

"Logan, don't you have a class to teach?" Erik asked, sounding annoyed.

Logan was too confused to be upset with his former enemy. "A class… to teach?" Him?

"History," Charlotte clarified as she moved her hoverchair away from her desk towards Logan, Erik following her.

"History?" Logan asked, still confused. "Actually, I could use some help with that."

"Help with what?" Charlotte asked, confused.

"Pretty much everything after 1973," Logan answered.

Charlotte and Erik both paused, realization hitting them both.

"I think the history I know is a little different."

Charlotte and Erik both looked at him in awe. "Welcome back."

"It's good to see you, Charlotte. You too, Erik," Logan smirked. "It's good to see everyone."

"Well," Charlotte smiled. "I had a promise to keep."

Erik placed his left hand on her shoulder, and Charlotte placed her's on top of it. Logan saw the shiny bands on their ring fingers. Erik's a dark onyx metal color, and Charlotte's a silver white. Logan's eyes widened in astonishment. The couple saw this. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

Logan nodded. "Yeah." A lot.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Charlotte asked.

"Drowning."

000{{*}}000

Marya watched in growing concern as her son watched the television while he held his little sister.

Her blood went cold when she recognized the man in the television. Magneto. The man who had promised to help her family, but ended up having them driven out of their village because of him. She had lost the baby boy she had been carrying because of him. She and her husband had been so distraught from all the losses they'd obtained because of that man, when Peter had entered their lives. The moment she laid eyes on him and held him, she promised to love him and protect him from men like Magneto. To this day, that man still haunted her nightmares.

However, as she watched her son Peter, she realized that despite him being nine-and-a-half years old, he had been through so much: the loss of Django, her drinking, watching his little sister, and the discovery of his powers. He was older and more mature than people realized. Marya knew from the moment he came into her life that he was more special than anyone could realize.

That's why, with great reluctance, she cleared her throat, grabbing her son's attention. It was time he knew. "Peter, there's something I have to tell you…"

000{{*}}000

This was not how Stephen thought his day was going to go. His wife had called from the hospital, telling him that she was unable to pick up their daughter from her friend's house and that he would have to pick her up instead.

So Dr. Stephen Strange, after leaving Wong to guard the New York Sanctum, went over to the Grey house to pick up his nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter Wanda. After being welcomed in, he found Wanda playing dressup with her friends Jean and Anne. He had just told her it was time to clean up and head home when the news on the television grabbed everyone's attention.

In all his years since he learned about sorcery and became the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen had seen and experienced many odd and spectacular things, but this… it was something else. A man in a cape who had dropped a stadium on top of the White House and tried to assassinate the President and his Cabinet. A woman with blue skin and red hair that had managed to take down the man by pretending to be the President and subdue him.

Stephen watched his daughter and her friends' expressions as they watched this, their eyes wide with childlike wonder.

Then the news went on, talking about the incident which was when Stephen snapped everyone back into reality, thanking the Greys for Wanda stay, and allowing her to say goodbye to her friends. He could see how shaken up the Greys were and could hear the children's excietment as they talked about the mystery woman who had saved the day, making him want to take his daughter back home where it was safe as soon as possible.

After leaving through one of his magic portals and arriving back at the Sanctum, Stephen realized how quiet Wanda had become as soon as she left her friends. "Wanda?" he asked gently. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, but remained silent.

Stephen frowned. He knew the chaos of these "mutants" that had been happening these last several days had to have shaken her up just like every time there was an attack on the Sanctum or Kamar Taj while she was there. Usually he was able to comfort her and get her to talk about it, so he took her to the library, her favorite place in the sanctum after making them some tea and sat her on his lap.

He soothed her hair as he held her close to him, doing his best to comfort her. "You know you can tell me anything."

He waited until she finally spoke in a quiet and small voice. "Why are there so many bad people in the world?"

Stephen felt his breath freeze. His sweet innocent daughter, no matter how much he, Christine, and wong tried to shield her from the horrors of the world had seen so much in her young life.

When Stephen first met her, she had barely been a week old when he saved her from the cult that had taken her from her family and tried to sacrifice her to the demon Chthon. After stopping them, Stephen and the other sorcerers had been unable to locate Wanda's real family, leaving her in Stephen's care. Their only clue were the baby blanket with the name Wanda stitched on it that she had been wrapped in, and the metal rose necklace hidden in its folds.

Stephen was the farthest thing from parent material. How could he raise a baby? He had been very close to giving her up for adoption despite Wong, Christine, and even his relic Cape's insistence that he should keep her. It had been looking into Wanda's blue eyes that had changed his mind. They were sapphire blue, the bluest eyes he had ever seen on anyone, and they were looking at him with such trust. She certainly deserved better than him. His life was filled with chaos and magic, and constant danger, no life to raise a child in that. And yet, looking into Wanda's blue and trusting eyes, Stephen knew that the best thing for Wanda was to have a father who would never abandon her again. So he adopted her, and promised to protect her, and teach her compassion and morality, and he had done his best to keep that promise. He never regretted a second in becoming Wanda's father, despite all the worry of his enemies and someone harming her.

Which is why he did his best to answer Wanda's question. "People make bad decisions, Wanda. Some of them we can't understand why, but it is the good in people who fix those mistakes and try to help them that make the world a better place," Stephen explained to his young daughter.

A thoughtful look appeared on Wanda's face. "Like you, Mommy, Uncle Wong, all the good sorcerers, and that woman on tv?" she asked.

Stephen chuckled, nodding his head. "Yes, Wanda. People like that."

"I want to help people like you someday," Wanda declared.

"You will, Wanda," Stephen told her. "You have a good and compassionate heart worthy of the biggest hero." Stephen knew from the moment he held her in his arms for the first time that she was special, and would grow up to be an amazing woman.

Wanda wrapped her arms around Stephen's neck and hugged him. "I love you, Daddy."

Stephen smiled and kissed her beautiful auburn locks. "I love you, my beautiful witch."

000{{*}}000

" _The past, a new and uncertain world. A world of endless possibilities, and infinite outcomes. Countless choices define our fate. Each choice, each moment, a ripple in the river of time. Enough ripples, and you change the tide. For the future is never truly set."_

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys think? The idea of Dr. Strange being Wanda's adopted father came when I stumbled upon a fanfic of Strange becoming a mentor to Wanda and also from JusticeAvengers by Red-Rum-18 on DevianArt, and the idea couldn't get out of my head. Also, watching Dr. Strange may having encouraged the idea as well. I also thought making Jean and Wanda best friends since they were kids would be a good idea as well. So let me know what all you guys think. Next up: Apocalypse.**


	20. Apocalypse: Chapter 19

**Well, here we are. The first chapter of the Apocalypse. I had some fun writing this, so I hope you all enjoy it.**

Chapter 19

" _Mutants: born with extraordinary abilities, and yet still, they are children stumbling in the dark, searching for guidance. A gift can often be a curse. Give someone wings, and they may fly too close to the sun. give them the power of prophecy, and they may live in fear of the future. Give them the greatest gift of all, powers beyond imagination, and they may think they are meant to rule the world."_

000{{*}}000

Pruszkow, Poland

The horn blew, signaling the end of the work day for Henryk Gurzsky and his fellow coworkers. Grabbing his lunch bin, Henryk said goodbye to them before making his way home.

He lived in a decent size home. Not too big and not too small for him and his family with even a few chickens. Henryk got out of his car and went inside. He cocked his head in curiosity while he set his lunch bin down. It was awfully quiet, too quiet for his family.

He was getting ready to check the kitchen when he was surprised from behind. Slender arms wrapped around his torso and the smell of cinnamon hit him. He smiled, and with that, the mask of Henryk Gurzsky fell and Erik Lehnsherr kissed his wife.

"Good day?" Magda asked as she pulled away.

"Better now," Erik said. "Where's Nina?" He was desperate to see his little girl after a hard day's work.

"Out back with her friends," Magda smiled.

Together, the two of them went outside where they saw a little girl surrounded by a couple of deer, giggling. The sight brought warmth and love into Erik's heart. His sweet and beautiful little Nina had become the greatest joy in his life from the second she was born. She looked so much like his wife with her ebony hair and adorable cheekbones, but with his mischievous smile. She was free spirited like him, but she possessed her mother's kind and understanding heart. A heart that had made Erik fall in love with her the night he met her. A heart so much like another woman's whom Erik had loved just as deeply.

Erik shook his head of that last thought, picking up his daughter and swinging her around. He laughed as she squealed with delight. "Papa!" Yes, life was good for Erik Lehnsherr.

That night as he tucked his little girl for bed, he sang to her the lullaby his parents use to sing to him and his sister when they were Nina's age and hiding from the Nazis. The song had always brought comfort and peace to Erik, and now he hoped that it would bring the same to his little Nina.

"Where did you learn that song, Papa?" Nina asked him when he finished.

He brushed a lock of hair out of her face as he answered her, "I learned it from my parents, and they learned it from their parents, and them from theirs. And one day, you'll sing it to your children too."

He tapped her nose, and the little girl smiled for a moment before her eyes softened. "What happened to them? Your parents?"

Erik looked down, not wanting his young daughter to see the pain in his eyes as he remembered. He didn't want her to know of the horrors he had gone through when he was little older than her. "They were taken from me, when I was a little boy," he answered her, his eyes glancing down at the numbers forever tattooed on his arm. Then he looked at her. "But they're still here, inside me," he said, pointing to his heart. Then he opened the locket Nina wore where the pictures of his mother and father were. "And with you."

"Is someone going to take you away?" Nina asked, her voice so small and her eyes showing fear at the thought of losing her father.

"Never," Erik promised her.

Nina smiled at him.

He turned her lamp off and kissed her goodnight.

As he laid in his bed with his wife, Erik's thoughts drifted to Charlotte. How was she? Erik had no doubt that she was doing well, running her school for the gifted, but had she moved on like he had? Erik was surprised to feel the flare of jealousy at the thought of another man loving Charlotte, to be there when she woke up every morning, listen to her as she talked about her day, and possibly father her children. Then guilt doused Erik as he thought of his wife and daughter. He would never regret the decision he made leaving Washington D.C. to start a new life. He and Charlotte Xavier were better off without each other. Erik had his family and a normal life. Charlotte would have the school she always dreamed about and a man who would love her the way she deserved. Erik turned in his bed towards his wife who slept, and he wrapped his arms around her, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Yes, things were better this way.

000{{*}}000

When Charlotte woke to find her bed shaking, she was worried Jean or Wanda were having one of their nightmares again, but then she realized what it actually was and relaxed a bit.

"Wake up, Mommy!" her young daughter Lorna shouted as she continued to bounce on her bed.

Charlotte groaned as she did so, running a hand through her messy locks. She looked at the clock on her bed stand. Breakfast wasn't served for another hour and a half, so why was her daughter waking her up this early?

"Bobby's bulldog tried to eat Wanda's cat again, and she's getting ready to hex him," Lorna explained.

Well, that explained why Charlotte was getting woken up like this. Charlotte sighed. "Alright, bring me my chair, please."

Without getting off the bed, Lorna reached out and Charlotte's wheelchair was brought to her. After putting a robe on, Charlotte slipped into her wheelchair and rolled out of her room with Lorna following behind her. This was starting to become a daily occurrence. She kept telling those two to keep their pets inside their rooms.

By the time she found her two students, Hank was in between them, and Jean was trying to keep Wanda from exploding on Bobby. Both pets were each being held by their respective owners with the dog barking and the cat hissing at each other.

"Keep that fur ball away from Snuffles or I'll freeze it," Bobby threatened.

The look Wanda threw at him would have made even the devil quake. "You touch Ebony, I'll turn that mutt of yours into an actual hot dog!"

Quite a few students had come out of their rooms to watch the fight. Terrific. Just what they needed this early in the morning.

"Alright, let's all calm down," Charlotte said as she reached them.

Relief came to Hank's distress face at her arrival.

Bobby was dressed in sweats and looked to have come from his morning jog while Wanda was still dressed in her nightgown.

"Now," Charlotte stopped in front of them. "What's the problem?"

"I was walking with Snuffles outside so could pee, but Wanda left her and Jean's window open so the cat got out. Snuffles chased Ebony and she nearly scratched his face off," the fourteen-year-old boy explained to Charlotte.

"It was unbearably hot last night, so of course I opened a window. You're supposed to keep that dog on a leash whenever you take him out," Wanda told him.

Charlotte resisted the urge to sigh, but she spoke with a calm and patient tone. "Yes, Bobby, you're supposed to keep Snuffles on a leash every time he goes outside, but Wanda, if Ebony needs to get out of your room, you need to keep an eye on her. Understood?"

Both teenagers nodded grudgingly.

"Good. now, it seems Ebony didn't hurt Snuffles too bad, so we'll let it slide this time. But you both need to keep a better eye on your pets," Charlotte told them.

"Yes, ma'am," they both nodded again, feeling guilty for disappointing the professor.

Charlotte turned to the students gathered in the hallway. "Now, everyone back to their rooms. Breakfast will be ready in an hour."

Everybody immediately listened to her, hurrying to get ready for the day, and leaving Charlotte alone with Hank and her daughter. She then turned to her daughter with a playful, stern look. "That includes you too, young lady."

"Okay, Mommy." Lorna skipped all the way back to her room.

Charlotte couldn't help but smile at it. Her daughter was the greatest joy in her life.

She rolled on back to her room to get ready for the day after reassuring Hank that it was alright that she had been woken up, and he did fine keeping Bobby and Wanda from inflicting any damage. Charlotte loved her students as much as her own children. They could be tiresome at times, but Charlotte wouldn't have it any other way.

After the incident in Washington, she and Hank had gone through a lot of work into reopening the school. During those months, Charlotte found out that she was pregnant again. This pregnancy had filled Charlotte with fear, remembering the last time she was pregnant, and she had gone into labor two weeks before her due date. She had been so worried about losing another child, but all that faded when she held her baby girl in her arms for the first time. Lorna Edie Xavier had been born healthy, and for that Charlotte couldn't be happier. She didn't care about the thoughts people had of her being an unwed mother. All that mattered was holding her daughter in her arms.

Lorna didn't replace the babies that Charlotte had lost. She still remembered them everyday, but having Lorna had allowed her to finally move on in her life. She was beautiful and perfect.

The only trouble Charlotte had was seeing so much of her daughter's father in her. She had his smile, the green from his eyes, and his stubbornness. She also had the same gift as him: the ability to manipulate metal. A part of Charlotte was happy to see so much of her old friend and love in their daughter while another part of her felt guilty keeping such a secret from him. She had wanted to tell him so many times while she was pregnant, but the last time she had looked him up through Cerebro she made herself stop. He was moving on which meant she had to aswell, so she never looked him up again.

Now, Charlotte was happy. Raising her daughter and running her school with the help of Hank had made her happier than she had in a long time. She still missed Erik and probably always will just like she'll always miss her sister, but things were better.

She heard a crash outside her room, and Hank's surprised shout and smiled.

Things couldn't get better than this.

000{{*}}000

She was teaching one of her classes later that day when an old face came by, bring a new one as well.

Charlotte was teaching in the library, reading out loud during a lecture. "'To break forth bloodily, then the past must be obliterated and a new start made. Let us start fresh without remembrance rather than live forward and backward at the same time,'" Charlotte quoted. "Now, what on earth do we think that the author meant when he wrote that all that?"

Several eager hands went up to answer, and Charlotte was about to pick one of them when she saw Hank coming towards her with a blindfolded teenage boy and a familiar face. Charlotte stopped.

""That's going to be your assignment for tomorrow," she announced. "Top marks, everyone. Class dismissed."

The students were happy to pick up their bookbags and head out.

Charlotte placed her book beside her, and smiled at the young man who walked beside Hank. "Alex, it's good to see you."

The young man bent down to hug her. "You too."

"You look well," Charlotte said as he pulled back. "It's been a while."

"It has," Alex agreed. "Not too bad yourself."

"Thank you." Charlotte was nearing her fifties. She hoped she still looked okay for another few years.

Alex placed an arm around the blindfolded teenage boy that had come in with him. "This is my brother, Scott."

Charlotte smiled even though she knew the young boy couldn't see it. "Hello, Scott. Welcome to the School for the Gifted."

"It doesn't exactly feel like a gift," Scott said.

Charlotte could feel the fear inside him, fear of himself, his powers, and the possibility of hurting someone. Like so many students Charlotte had taught. She sympathized with him. "It never does ar first."

000{{*}}000

Wanda was going through her literature homework and college applications on a blanket outside, not far from where Jean was practicing her archery like she usually does when she's stress. Wanda felt guilty, knowing that she was one of the reasons why.

Starting a fight with Bobby this morning hadn't been very smart, but in all fairness, she kind of had a restless night. Thankfully, she didn't throw anything or start a fire in her sleep like she usually did. It was bad enough she and Jean were shunned by their fellow classmates because they couldn't control their powers very well. They didn't need Wanda's temper ruining things further for them.

The other reason Wanda knew that was disturbing Jean was what that boy said them earlier in the hallway when he bumped into them and nearly made Jean drop all of her books and notes.

Weird girl.

That's what they called Jean and Wanda: humans, the sorcerers in Kamar Taj, and even fellow mutants. No matter how many times Wanda heard it, it still stung, and she hated people calling her best friend that as well.

She looked up from her books in time to see Jean release an arrow and make it sore around the pond until it landed in the center of the target. Wanda smiled. He friend was always modest, but she knew the girl liked to show off once in a while. She turned her head when she noticed the Professor, Dr. McCoy, and the two guys from earlier make their way around the pond. It seems the blindfolded boy was going to be a new student, Wanda realized.

Charlotte was trying to explain to Scott what the school was. He was a lot like his brother Alex when she first met him, reluctant to trust strangers and yet carried a good heart. Charlotte was determined to help Scott just like she helped Alex.

"The first step in understanding one's power is learning the extent of it," she explained as they circled the pond. "Only then can we begin the process of teaching you how to control it. If you do decide to stay, I can promise you that by the time you're done here, you'll be able to go back into the world and play a stable and productive part in it."

They stopped and Charlotte locked in her wheelchair. "Why don't you take your bandages off, and we can have a look at what we're dealing with?"

Scott seemed hesitant, but he began to undo his bandages. Charlotte had Alex direct him towards the target across the pond.

'When you open your eyes, try and hit that,"she said to the teenage boy.

He seemed scared and worried about doing that.

"You can open your eyes, Scott," she said reassuringly. "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's quite-"

Scott opened his eyes and red beams shot from his eyes. Charlotte and Hank were forced to look away as the beams hit the water before moving upwards, destroying the target, and hitting the big tree behind it until Scott closed his eyes and the beams stopped. She could hear several students cry out in alarm and surprise, but nobody was hurt.

Jean and Wanda looked at the scene, amazed.

Charlotte looked up and saw the tree burning a bit, the target obliterated, and the pond swishing from the impact. A chuckle escaped her, and she tried to relieve the tension and horror she felt from Scott. "My grandfather planted that tree when he was five years old. I used to swing from the branches of it myself." The tree split in two and fell down with a thud. "I think that was probably my favorite tree."

"Does that mean I'm expelled?" Scott asked, worriedly.

"On the contrary," Charlotte said, looking at him. "You're enrolled."

A relieved and happy smile appeared on Scott's face. A smile appeared on Jean's face as well, and even Wanda found herself softening a bit as she felt his joy and relief in not being alone, and being with others like him.

Lorna came running from her Phys Ed class and joined them. "That was awesome!" she exclaimed.

Charlotte and Hank laughed, and Alex looked amused by her enthusiasm. Scott, however, was blushing bright red. "Really?"

Lorna nodded, then realizing that he couldn't see, said, "yeah, everyone here is all unique. It's rare to find anyone with the same power."

Charlotte smiled. "Alex, Scott, this is my daughter, Lorna. Lorna, this is Alex Summers, an old friend, and this is his brother Scott."

Scott and Lorna both said hello to one another, and Lorna began asking him questions if he was going to attend the school.

Charlotte could hear the questions in Alex's head as he looked at her. _Professor, is she…?_ Alex projected his thoughts.

Charlotte nodded. _Yes, Alex. She's his._ She felt no judgment in Alex, just sadness, understanding, and a little anger directed towards Erik, but also an eagerness to catch up with Charlotte and Hank, help his brother settle in, and possibly getting to know Lorna a bit. Charlotte had missed Alex.

000{{*}}000

That night, after helping Alex settle Scott in one of the rooms Charlotte had prepared for him, and making her rounds to see that everyone would be going to bed on time, Charlotte was tucking her daughter in for bed when she asked her to tell her a story.

"Which one?"

"About Daddy," Lorna answered.

Charlotte held back a sigh threatening to escape her. As her daughter grew older, the more questions she asked about the man who had fathered her. Sometimes she would indulge her daughter, telling her of the moments when she and Erik were first recruiting mutants, and trained them, but she would never reveal his name. Never his name. Charlotte kept telling herself that when Lorna was old enough to understand she would tell her. However, the longer she waited, the harder it got.

"Which one so you want to hear?" Charlotte asked.

"The one when you met for the first time," Lorna said.

Charlotte couldn't help but grin. Her daughter always found that story amusing, but romantic, considering it was the woman who rescued the man from certain death instead of the other way around.

"Well, it was a dark and cold night. We were looking for the bad man, Shaw when your father found him before us, and attacked him. Shaw tried to escape, but your father refused to let that happen. He would have died if I hadn't stopped him in time."

She could still remember the smell of he salt air, the cold water on her skin, and the feel of Erik as she wrapped herself around him to stop him.

"What did he look like?" Lorna asked.

"Very handsome," Charlotte answered, and she felt herself grow warmer as she remembered. "Tall, dark hair, and amazing eyes. Blue-gray with a bit of green. Kind of like yours, but like a raging sea."

"Do you still love him?"

Charlotte froze. Did she? "I believe I'll always care for him, Lorna. If I didn't then I wouldn't have had you, mein Liebling," she said, tapping Lorna's nose.

Her daughter giggled and Charlotte smiled. She would forever be grateful for this wondrous gift Erik had given to her, and the second chance she had been given to be a mother. She leaned down and kissed Lorna goodnight.

However, she hadn't even made it out of her daughter's bedroom when she felt the entire house shake.

000{{*}}000

 **I think this is the fastest chapter I've ever written. So what do you guys think? I was a little worried writing Erik and Charlotte's thoughts on their separation these last ten years, but I think I did an okay job on it. Hoped you guys enjoyed it.**


	21. Apocalypse: Chapter 20

**Here's the next chapter. A little more insight on Jean and Wanda's friendship. Hope you guys enjoy.**

Chapter 20

Erik had been working when he felt the shake.

The whole factory building skook, upsetting the machinery and equipment surrounding him and his fellow coworkers. One of the equipment's cables broke and fell. There was a man underneath it on the ground.

He wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time.

Erik didn't think, it was a reflex. He reached out and stopped the equipment from crushing the man.

The second people came over to help the man, horror filled Erik. What had he done? He quickly put his hand down, and went back to work. He felt eyes on him and he looked around. Some of the workers threw glances at him, but mostly everyone's attention was on the man Erik had just saved.

Nobody came to confront him, so Erik went back to work like normal, keeping his head down. He would continue working like nothing was wrong, but as soon as he was able to, he would run. And he would be taking his family with him.

000{{*}}000

Everyone had come out of their rooms, and were looking towards the direction where Jean and Wanda's bedroom was in fear.

"They're doing it again," one of the students whispered.

"Mommy?" Charlotte heard her daughter's frightened voice from behind her.

"It's okay, darling. Just go back to bed," she gently told the young girl.

She rolled herself down the hallway, telling everyone to go back to bed. She felt their annoyance of being woken up and their fear of what Jean and Wanda could do.

Hank was standing outside their door when Charlotte reached it. He opened the door, and Wanda's black cat immediately shot past them, running down the hallway.

Charlotte focused her attention on her two students who were both obviously in the midst of a horrible nightmare. Both girls were prone to nightmares ever since they started coming here to Charlotte's school. They slept on opposite sides of the room, but Charlotte could see the damage they were already inflicting in their sleep. Jean was tossing and turning, whimpers escaping her, while Wanda thrashed in her sleep, her scarlet energy shining in her hands as she cried out. "No! Stop!"

"I've never seen either of them like this," Hank whispered to Charlotte, worry evident in his voice.

"Nor I. Don't let any of the children come this way," Charlotte told him before she entered the bedroom.

On Jean's side the pictures and walls were dissolving in smoke, and on Wanda's side the window was cracking and her dresser seemed to be on the verge of being set on fire. Despite all this, Charlotte continued on, suppressing her fear until she was in the space between Jean and Wanda's beds.

"Jean. Wanda," Charlotte whispered, trying to wake the poor girls who both seemed to be in physical pain from their nightmares. She tried delving into their minds, only to find herself in pain as well as she saw the images of their nightmares.

 _Fire._

 _Fire everywhere._

 _It filled the sky, burning everywhere._

 _Ash flew as buildings burned._

 _People screamed as they themselves burned._

 _Charlotte felt herself burning as her skin burned and she felt herself dissolving into ash._

 _ **Jean! Wanda!**_

Both girls woke up startled and shakened, and the dream ended. All three of them panted, their heart racing.

Hank watched them in worry.

Wanda sprung from her bed and went over to Jean, wrapping her arms around her like a child seeking comfort. Jean wrapped her arms around the other girl as well, and they held each other, the nightmare fresh in their minds. Charlotte was reminded of the stories the girls' parents had told her about when they were children, how they always sought comfort from one another after a nightmare even before their powers had manifested. The sight reminded of her and her sister Raven when they were little girls, comforting each other after a nightmare.

"I saw the end of the world," Jean whispered. "I could feel all this death."

Charlotte looked up at them. "It-it was just a dream," she tried to sooth.

Wanda shook her head, pulling away from Jean so she could look at the professor. "It felt real."

"I know," Charlotte whispered. "Your minds are the most powerful I've ever seen. They can convince themselves and each other-"

"No, it was real!" Wanda shouted, and a tear fell down her face.

"She's right," Jean agreed. "It's not just the mind-reading, the telekinesis, or the probability manipulation, it's something else. Some dark power inside and it's growing. Like a fire."

Charlotte had the feeling Jean wasn't including Wanda about this struggle. Both girls had extraordinary powers that could be just as powerful as they were dangerous, and yet they faced different challenges in dealing with them. Wanda, having grown up with a father who understood having unusual powers and had tried to help her to his best abilities, had more reassurance in her control. Whereas, Jean on the other hand, having normal human parents that didn't understand, had less confidence in her abilities.

"I thought I was getting better," Jean whispered.

Wanda rubbed her arm, comfortingly.

"You are," Charlotte told her. "You will. You just have to be patient. Both of you."

Jean shook her head furiously. "No, you don't know what it's like to be afraid to shut your eyes. To be trapped inside your own head."

"Oh, I think I do," Charlotte said, remembering what she went through those lonely years thinking she would go insane having all those voices in her head until she started taking Hank's serum.

"It wasn't so long ago that I was plagued by voices myself," she confessed to the two girls. "All their suffering. All their pain. Their secrets."

Both girls' ire faded, and Charlotte saw two frightened children before her.

"I'm afraid one day I'm going to hurt someone," Jean's voice sounded so small.

"Me too," Wanda whispered.

Charlotte's heart broke. She could remember as a little girl, her and Raven holding each other, terrified, and wishing someone would comfort them. That's what she saw as she looked upon Jean and Wanda huddled on the bed, and knew that's what they needed. "Lie back," she told them.

They did so, Wanda getting under the covers with Jean.

Charlotte brought her wheelchair closer to them, and managed to pick herself up from it and onto the bed. She looked down at the two girls. "Everyone fears that which they do not understand," she said to them softly. "You will both learn to control your powers, and when you do, neither of you will have anything to fear."

She brushed Jean's ginger locks from her face, and wiped Wanda's tears, smiling softly and reassuringly at them. "Both of you get some rest."

She got back into her wheelchair, but before she could leave, Wanda's voice caused her to stop. "There was something else in the dream. Before the fires came."

Charlotte turned her head and saw the haunted look in Wanda's blue eyes. "I saw a man in pain. Agonizing pain. Surrounded by death."

Those words sent a cold chill through Charlotte's spine, and she couldn't understand why.

000{{*}}000

"Their nightmares were different this time," Charlotte said to Hank as they went down to the basement.

"Well, it could account to something I saw when I was in my lab earlier," Hank suggested. "There was some kind of tremor. Like an energy surge. I picked it up on one my meters."

"You're saying that Jean and Wanda created it?" Charlotte asked.

"No, I'm saying something else did," Hank answered. "Maybe they were reacting to it. I don't know. But the epicenter was halfway around the world."

"Halfway around the world?" Charlotte asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that's why I was hoping you could take a look," Hank said as they reached Cerebro.

"Let's see what we can find."

The scanner checked her. "Welcome Professor."

They entered enter Cerebro. Over the years, the machine had been modified with newer tech, a big improvement since '73 when Charlotte had regained her powers.

They went over to the consul. Charlotte picked up the helmet and placed it on her head as Hank flipped the switches. "The source came from Cairo. I'll put in the coordinates," he said.

Cerebro came to life, and Charlotte was connected to all the minds in the world. She narrowed her search to Cairo, searching for answers until she found one mind in particular. Charlotte couldn't believe it.

"What? What is it?" Hank asked.

Charlotte realized she had a stupid grin on her face. "It's him."

"Who?" Hank asked. For a moment he was worried it was Erik.

"Maurice." She was brought to the moment she first met him when she was young and looked forward to her future, and how he made her feel special.

"What? Maurice MacTaggert?" Hank was surprised. He hadn't been expecting that. "Give me the details."

"He looks great. He's barely aged a day," Charlotte said, lost in thought as she took in Maurice's appearance. Damn, he looked good. Why did all the men in her life look good the older they got?

"No, I meant what is he doing there?" Hank asked. "What does the CIA want with this?"

Oh, right, Charlotte remembered. She knew she had to be blushing, but she focused on listening to Maurice's thoughts. "He's going back to Langley to deliver a report," she told Hank. "I'm going to go there, see if he knows something about the tremors."

Hank smirked. "You want to go see Maurice."

Charlotte looked at the projected figure of Maurice. "I want to go check him out," she said. Then realizing how that sounded, quickly reiterated. "Check out the situation."

Hank raised an eyebrow, and Charlotte cleared her throat.

The man continued to smirk at his old friend. "Maurice MacTaggert."

Charlotte's eyes remained on the projected image of Maurice. "It's like a ghost from the past," she breathed. She remembered his kindness, not only to her, but to other mutants back when they were training them in '62, and how he helped her adapt to life in a wheelchair during those first hard weeks.

Hank was smiling at Charlotte. In the past several years, he had wanted Charlotte to go out into the world, maybe try seeing someone. She spent so much of her time raising her daughter and running the school, Hank believed that she deserved to find happiness in love. Charlotte had told him about how she had refused Maurice years back, but judging from her reaction right now, maybe it was time to give it another go. Hopefully, Hank thought as they left Cerebro to get some sleep, Maurice would be able to help Charlotte move on from Erik and the pain and had caused her in the past, so she could have a better future.

000{{*}}000

The second his shift was over, Erik raced his home as fast as he could. Magda was there to greet him with a smile like she always did, but when she saw the panicked expression on his face, it dropped instantly. He took her upstairs, explaining what had happened at the factory as he began to pack their bags. Magda, after hearing what had happened, tried to talk him out of it. "You did a good thing. You saved that man."

Dear, sweet Magda. She had more faith in humans that Erik did, but Erik had spent too many years of his life on the run to believe in blind faith. "That's not the point," he said to her. "If I'm exposed, we're all exposed." How could he have been so stupid? By revealing himself, he had endangered his entire family.

"We have to leave." He pulled out a drawer filled with money, passports, and fake ids he had hidden for this event.

His wife stopped him. "This is our home. This is our daughter's home."

Erik held her face. "We are her home." He hated dragging his daughter away from the things she knew, but as long as they were together that's what mattered. He looked into his wife's beautiful dark eyes. "I told you who was, the first night I met you." He had told her everything, his family, the Holocaust, what he could do, the Brotherhood, and he even told her about Charlotte and the hurt he had caused her. Despite all of that, Magda had loved him and kept his secret, and he couldn't love her more for it.

"I trusted you then. I need you to trust me now. We can't stay here anymore," he said to her.

His wife nodded tearfully before kissing him. She pulled away from him. "I'll get Nina," she whispered.

She left their bedroom, and Erik continued to pack. There was no telling when the authorities would come, but the sooner they left, the better. Erik had to hurry.

"She's not in her room," his wife's panicked voice caused him to stop and look at her. "And I don't see her out back."

Fear showed in Magda's face before she ran downstairs, Erik following her as they went outside, and called for their daughter.

"Nina? Nina! Nina!" they called out, desperate to hear her.

A scream was heard.

Erik felt as if ice had been dumped on him. Please, no.

He ran in the direction where he heard the scream, into the woods with his wife following closely behind him.

"Nina!" Please, let her be alright, Erik prayed for the first time since he was a little boy. Please, not his little Nina. Erik had been scared many times in his life, but never, never had he been so terrified as he felt when he reached a clearing.

A dozen policemen, holding bows and batons were waiting for him, and among them was his precious Nina.

He slowed his pace and motioned Magda to stay back. Calmly as he could, he slowly walked towards them. He forced his voice to not show any of the fear and panic he felt at this moment. "Nina, are you alright?"

"She's fine," one of the officers told him briskly.

"Then let her go!" Magda demanded.

"We will," said the officer holding Nina. "We just wanted to have a word."

Erik looked at all of them. He couldn't feel any trace of metal on them. No badges, no watches, or even wedding bands. "You're not wearing your badges."

"No metal," one of them growled.

"Some guys at the factory said they saw something today. Something that didn't add up," the one holding Nina said.

"Put your weapons down," Erik tried to tell them. They didn't have any metal he could use. Just their numbers was enough to overwhelm him. They should know that he would do nothing to endanger his family.

The officer continued as if Erik hadn't spoken. "You've been a good citizen, Henryk. A good neighbor, a good worker. I want to believe that's who you are."

"It is!" Magda insisted.

The man continued. "But nobody in this town really knows you."

"Yes, you do," Erik told them. They knew the person he was now. "I am Henryk Gurzsky." He recognized one of them. "Jakob, I've had dinner in your home-"

"And you were lying the whole time," Jakob snarled. "I brought a killer into my house."

Erik flinched.

The leader, holding Nina then held up an old newspaper clipping. Erik recognized himself in it, taken ten years ago.

"Is this you? Are you the one they call Magneto?"

Erik felt hopelessness crash into him. He couldn't hide it anymore. His secret was out.

He turned his head to look at his wife. She looked so scared and worried. Erik knew what he needed to do. He had failed and brought so pain in the lives of the people he loved. His mother, Charlotte, and now Magda and Nina. it was time for that to stop.

He turned back to the policemen and forced himself to be strong for his girls. "Take me in. please, just let my daughter go."

No more hiding. No more running. It was time he faced the consequences of his actions. Nobody else would be hurt. Nina would be safe with Magda, and his wife would see it that she and their daughter would be alright.

Surprise showed in the leader's eyes at his corporation, but he released Nina and Erik made his way over towards them.

As his daughter passed him, Erik touched her face, engraving the image of it into his memory. "Go with your mother," he whispered to her. Tears burned in his eyes, knowing this would be the last time he saw her, but he forced them down. He had to be strong for her.

Confusion showed in her eyes, and when Erik put his hands behind his back for the police to bind, it seemed it finally dawned on her what was happening.

"Please!" she cried.

Erik shook his head. Please, Nina don't make this harder than it already was.

"Don't leave me!" her cries tore through Erik's heart, and he tried not to shed tears from them.

"I'm not going to let them take you!" Nina cried.

Magda tried to calm her down, whispering reassurances in her ears.

Rustling sounded in the forest, and the men looked around in fear. Crows screeched as they flapped around them.

"What's going on?"

"She's one of them!"

The screeching grew louder as did the men's fear. "Tell her to stop!"

"She can't control it!" Erik tried to tell them. Nina's powers had just come. At that stage there was no on and off switch yet. "She's scared of you!" He looked back at his daughter and saw a wild look in her dark eyes.

"I'm not going to let them take you!" she told him.

Birds screeched and they descended upon the policemen.

"Make her stop!" they cried in fear as they ducked from the birds' attacks.

Magda kneeled before her daughter and tried to calm her to stop this, but none of it stops. None of it stops until an arrow is loosened, and it hits both mother and daughter together.

It happened so slowly, Erik felt like he was trudging through mud as he pulled away from the policemen and shot to his wife and daughter. The arrow that hit them may as well have pierced his own heart as he reached them before they hit the ground.

Erik repeated his daughter's name. He had seen death so many times to know the signs, but that didn't stop him from begging for a miracle. That his beautiful wife and daughter would survive. But he felt their warmth leaving them. _No, please. Not again. Please not again._ The tears blurred his vision and he held them close to him as he sobbed. He felt Nina's soft hair and smelled the familiar cinnamon from Magda. He remembered meeting Magda for the first time and falling in love with her. He remembered holding Nina's tiny body in his arms for the first time, watching her first steps, and dreamed of her growing up, falling in love, and starting a family of her own, always promising to be his little girl.

Now she's gone.

Magda's gone.

They're both gone.

"Not my babies," he sobbed.

He found the locket hanging around Nina's neck and it fell into his hands. He could feel the metal of it, and he remembered the policemen watching him as he grieved for his dead family. The family they had killed.

Like a tempest rising, fury filled Erik as he thought of these monsters who had taken his family away from him. He let go of the locket and it flew from his hand. He made it go through and kill every policeman standing behind him until they were no longer standing, and it returned to him, covered in blood. He gripped it tightly in his hands even as it dug painfully into him.

He roared at the heavens above him. "Is this what you want from me?! Is this what I am?!" So many people Erik had loved harmed because of him: his parents, Charlotte, all his mutant brothers and sisters, Magda, Nina… it didn't stop.

"Is this what I am?" he sobbed.

Monster.

That's what he was.

A monster who killed and destroyed everything no matter what.

000{{*}}000

 **I'm not going to lie, I got a little misty eyed writing the deaths of Erik's family. Michael Fassbender did a brilliant job with that scene. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Reviews are best the way to encourage a writer. I know some of you guys will be wondering when the twins will find out about their real parentage, you'll just have to wait and see.**


	22. Apocalypse: Chapter 21

**Hey guys. Sorry it took so long to update. This weekend was busy with work, and yesterday I was dealing with writer's block, and then today I was busy trying to type it all before I left for work today. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Happy early Fourth of July.**

Chapter 21

Charlotte failed to hide her excitement the next morning. Everyone could see it: her daughter, her students, and fellow teachers. The children were not use to seeing this kind of excitement in their beloved professor that it made them all wonder as to what the cause might be.

After explaining the situation with Alex, he had agreed to accompany Charlotte to the CIA agency while Hank stayed and kept an eye on the students.

As they went inside the agency building, Alex saw the youthful spark in Charlotte that he hadn't seen since Cuba and couldn't help but be happy for her. "So you really haven't seen him in all these years?" he asked as the they walked down the hallways. "You never looked him up? Not even in Cerebro?"

Charlotte laughed nervously. "Alex! What do you take me for, some kind of stalker?" Then it dropped, and she admitted embarrassingly. "Yes, I looked him up once. Twice. But not in a long time, alright?" The first time was shortly after he left them to see that he was alright. The second time was a few years ago. Her daughter had been a few years old, and Charlotte was lonely and curious to see what had happened to Maurice, so give her a break. Twice was certainly less than the amount of times she looked up Erik before she finally stopped herself.

"How did you leave things?" Alex asked. "Any hard feelings?"

"Not quite."

They entered an office room, and Charlotte froze everyone in the middle of their activities, so she and Alex could pass.

"I wiped his memories of us. The beach, Cuba, that whole time," she explained to Alex. "It was so long ago, Alex. Before the world knew about mutants. I felt it was the best thing for him."

"Because of Erik?" Alex asked gently.

Charlotte stopped. " He deserved someone who was fully committed to him. I couldn't be that for him."

Alex placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed comfortingly.

Charlotte smiled sadly at him before they continued on towards Maurice's office.

Maurice was working on some paperwork when Charlotte and Alex came in. He looked up at them, and Charlotte felt herself smiling brightly at him. "Maurice MacTaggert," she greeted as Alex shut the office door.

She rolled up to the front of his desk. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Professor-"

"Charlotte Xavier!" he interrupted her, a little excitedly, and startling Charlotte a bit. "I know exactly who you are."

"You… do?" Charlotte was stunned. Did he remember?

"Of course I do," Maurice said, standing up and taking his glasses off. "I've read all of your papers. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He held his hand out, and Charlotte shook it. She was a little surprised by all this. Maurice hd no memory of ever meeting her, and yet he'd read all her papers. Charlotte had to admit she felt flattered. She was barely aware of Maurice introducing himself to Alex and inviting him to take a seat, so busy she was studying his profile. He was more handsome in person. He had become more muscular than he had been twenty years ago and had seemed to age nicely with only a few strands of gray hair showing in his auburn hair, but his brown eyes, though matured, held a wisdom and kindness to them Charlotte remembered.

"It's wonderful to see you again- to meet you again for the first time," Charlotte stuttered. Her eyes glanced around the room and widened in surprise when she saw a picture sitting on one of the shelves. "You've got a don?" He had blonde hair, but he shared the same sofe brown eyes as his father who held him in the picture.

"Yes," Maurice answered, sounding a little suspicious. Pride showed in his face as he glanced at the picture. "Kevin. He's coming up on ten pretty soon."

"So is my Lorna," Charlotte said, a little breathlessly. "I mean, not for another couple of months, but they go so fast. Does he have a wife?"

Maurice raised an eyebrow.

Alex covered his face, embarrassed. _Real smooth, Professor._

 _Hush up, Alex._ Charlotte reiterated her question, "Do you have a wife?"

"I had a wife?" Maurice answered. "But it's hard to do this job and make it home for dinner."

Charlotte wasn't going to lie and say she was sorry for that.

"We all make choices, right?" Maurice aske, looking at her and Alex.

Charlotte's mind remembered all the hard decisions she made: erasing Maurice's memories, letting Erik leave her twice, and never telling him about either of her pregnancies. "Yes, we do."

"Professor."

"Yes?" she glanced at Alex.

 _The reason we're here._

"Yes." She looked back at Maurice. "I was- we were hoping that you would tell us what happened yesterday in Egypt."

Maurice looked at her in perplexion. "I'm afraid that's classified information, and I don't mean to be rude, but how did you get in here?"

Charlotte smiled mysteriously. "I have level five clearance."

Sensing that they could be trusted, Maurice brought out a few thick folders. "Ever since the world found out about mutants in '73 there have been cults who see them as some kind second coming or sign of God," he explained. He showed them pictures of men he had recently taken on his more recent mission. "I was tracking one of them. They call themselves Ashir En Sabah Nur, named after an ancient being they believe to be the world's first."

"World's first what?" Alex asked.

"The world's first mutant," Maurice answered.

Alex was confused. "I thought mutants didn't evolve until this century."

"That's the common theory, yes, but these guys believe that the first mutant was born tens of thousands of years ago, and they believe that he will rise again," the agent explained. He showed them pictures of ruins and monuments. "They've been searching ancient sites all around the world for clues." He then showed them pictures of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. "These hieroglyphs describe a specific set of powers greater than man could possess."

"They think he lived all that time?" Charlotte asked. It was incredible to think such mutation was possible. Of course, she remembered Logan and remembered that he was much older than he appeared to be, but even still, he had would have his limitations.

"Yes and believe he had the ability to transfer his consciousness from body to body," Maurice explained to her. "And whenever he was close to death, he would just take on a new body. Some of those may have been the bodies of mutants, enabling him to take their powers, amassing various abilities over the years."

"An all-powerful mutant," Charlotte realized. The concept was terrifying.

"Exactly." Maurice showed them one more picture. "And wherever this being was he always had four principle followers. Disciples. Protectors he would imbue with powers."

"Like the four horsemen," Alex spoke up. "Of the Apocalypse. He got that from the Bible."

"Or the Bible got it from him," Maurice shrugged. "And wherever he ruled, eventually, it would end in disaster. Cataclysm. Some kind of… Apocalypse."

"The end of the world," Charlotte whispered. She thought about Jean and Wanda's nightmares, and remembered the being who seemed more monster than man, revilishing in the pain and destruction around him. She did not have a good feeling about this.

000{{*}}000

People had always seen Charlotte as a strange girl, always quiet with her nose stuck in a book and rarely speaking. That wasn't any fault of hers. It had always been her nature. Growing up in the New York Sanctum her father guarded, Wanda rarely interacted with any children her age,mostly because there wasn't any to play with unless one of her parents took her to the park to play. Even there, Wanda was always shy and hesitant to play with the kids there, but she was alright with that. She had her mother who would play dolls with her and bake cookies with, and her father to play tea party and read stories to her. What more did she need?

She had been absolutely terrified when her mother suggested that she go to school so could interact with children her age, saying it was more healthy and that she would enjoy the experience. Wanda will admit that leaving the Sanctum felt like an adventure every time, but to go to school everyday without her parents scared her. What if something bad happened? She felt like an outsider among her preschool classmates, and one girl had been mean to Wanda, stealing her crayons on the first day. Wanda had been ready to cry and beg the teacher to call her Daddy when a red headed girl shared her crayons with Wanda, and even gave her one of her cookies from her lunchbox.

Jean Grey, she said her name was, and from that day on the two girls were the best of friends, as close as sisters. Wanda didn't realize how much of a friend Jean was until her powers came in, and she nearly killed their fellow classmates on their fourth grade trip to the zoo when her father had managed to come and prevent her from hurting anyone. But sadly, because of that event, Wanda couldn't go to school anymore and had to learn at home how to control her powers. She missed Jean, but the trauma of nearly killing her had kept her from reaching out to her friends again.

It wasn't until she was fourteen years old when her father, having tried to the best of his abilities to help her and protect her from his enemies, finally reached out towards Professor Xavier, having heard so much about the school she ran that helped children like Wanda. Wanda, having powers that could cause fires in her sleep and manipulate people's dreams, discovered that she was a mutant when the kind professor met her and offered her the opportunity to study at her school. It was there, Wanda discovered that her best friend Jean was attending and was also a mutant herself. Since then Wanda and Jean had stuck together through learning control over their powers, studying for exams, to dealing with being shunned by their fellow classmates.

Today, after a restless night, they were finishing up their homework and discussing possible colleges to go to once they graduated. Wanda, when she was a little girl, had wanted to become a doctor like her parents, but as she grew older, her interests changed. She loved reading and she loved her literature classes. Also, since coming here, Wanda had observed the teachers here and felt their feelings of accomplishment and devotion to helping the students here.

Jean however, was torn between pursuing a degree in medicine or politics. Wanda didn't see why Jean shouldn't pursue both. After all, she was one of the school's top students, and was kind of the peacemaker here. She still had time before she pursued her degree.

They were putting their books back into their bags when they felt someone's presence coming towards them.

"Hey."

They looked up. It was the new kid, Scott Summers. He was no longer wearing his bandages, instead a pair of glasses with red lenses.

Wanda was told that she tended to carry grudges, but since reconnecting with Jean years ago, she had been trying to let that habit go. Which is what she was doing as he came closer to her and Jean.

"You can see," Jean said to him.

Scott smiled, a little nervously Wanda noted. He looked around the beautiful environment around them. "Yeah. It's not as bad as I thought here."

Wanda agreed. After growing up in the city and only visiting the park whenever her parents weren't too busy, it was nice being surrounded by all this nature. So beautiful and peaceful.

The three of them turned their heads when they saw a bunch of students looking at them as they passed.

 _Freaks._

 _Someone should warn the new kid._

 _Yeah, someone should tell him._

Wanda stiffened as she heard their thoughts, and knew Jean could hear them as well.

Scott glanced at them self-consciously. "They're still scared of me. Hey! I have special glasses now!" he yelled out to the passing students.

Wanda and Jean looked at each other at his naivety.

"They're not scared of you, they're scared of us," Wanda told him.

He looked back at them.

"You're not the only one who can't fully control your powers," Jean said to him.

He looked at them more closely, realization filling him in. "Wait, so… last night, when the house shook… that was you guys?"  
Wanda shifted uncomfortably.

"Sorry to break it to you, but you're not the biggest freak in school," Jean told him with a small smile.

Wanda smiled as well. "Yeah, that's a title we share."

Scott grinned. "Well, that's a first."

Wanda looked between Scott and Jean. it was strange, but… he sensed there was some kind of connection already linking Jean and Scott together. She couldn't see Scott's eyes, but she could feel his thoughts to know that he was already attracted to Jean, and she could see the happy glimmer in Jean's eyes at him not running away in fear like other did. A smile formed on Wanda's face.

"Well, Scott," she spoke grabbing both his and Jean's attention. She picked up her bookbag and stood up. "I'm sure there's some places here you haven't seen yet, and I know Jean would be more than happy to show you."

Scott's face was slightly red, and Jean hissed _What are you doing?_ Inside her head. Wanda just grinned slyly at her.

"Really?" Scott asked.

Jean looked at him, a little surprised at what her friend was up to. "Uh… sure. If you don't mind."

"I'd like that," Scott said, smiling bashfully at her.

Wanda's grin threatened to split her face with how big it was. "I'll see you guys later then."

She left them and made her way back up to the school.

As she climbed up the steps, she saw little Lorna Xavier sitting down on one of them. Pieces of metal floated in front of her as she shaped them in twists and knots.

Wanda smiled at the little girl. Sweet little Lorna was among the few here who wasn't afraid of Wanda. She could remember when she came here five years ago, the awe in the little girl's eyes as she watched the sparkles of red dance in Wanda's hands. Wanda was surprised to find how quickly attached she became of the Professor's daughter the instant she met her. As if there was something connecting them, but she didn't know what.

"What are you making?" she asked Lorna.

The girl briefly glanced at her before turning her attention back to the metal, her face contorted in concentration. Lorna was known throughout the school as the jewelry artist, making everybody some kind of piece out of the metal she manipulated. Wanda's jewelry box was practically filled with rings and bracelets Lorna had made for her, and there was no doubt the Professor had a huge collection of all the metal gifts her daughter had made for her.

"I don't know," Lorna admitted. "I thought about making something for Mommy, but…"

Wanda nodded in understanding.

"Yeah," Lorna said. She dropped the metal into her hand and put it all in her pocket. "Where are you going?"

"I haven't seen Ebony since last night, so I was going to go look for her. Want to help me?" Wanda asked.

Lorna nodded. "Yeah."

Wanda smiled at her.

000{{*}}000

Raven was trying not to feel tense as she stood in the entryway of the mansion, Kurt Wagner, staying by her side as he looked at the place in awe. She hadn't been at the place in years. It was so different. Children were walking down the halls, happy and content, unaware of the real world outside their realm. It seemed Charlotte had done a fantastical job with the school, providing a safe haven for mutants. Which is one of the reasons Raven had brought Kurt here.

The other reason was Erik.

After Caliban had told her what had happened to him, she immediately thought of her sister. Charlotte, despite everything Erik had done to her, would be able and willing to find him and help. Raven knew that.

"Raven."

She saw Hank in the hall, not in his mutant form. She stepped down the stairs, and he came over to her.

"Wow, um…" Hank seemed lost for words. "I… you're…"

"Not blue," Raven supplied, a little bitterly. "Looks like you and I have that in common now."

Hank shook his head. "No. No, I meant, um… you're… you're back. Never thought I'd see you here again."

"Yeah, me neither," Raven admitted.

Hank opened his mouth to speak, but that's when Kurt spoke up. "I'm blue. I'm Kurt."

"Oh, right." Raven was slightly ashamed that she had almost forgotten about him.

"Kurt Wagner." The blue-skinned boy held out his hand to Hank which the older man shook.

"Welcome."

"Uncle Hank," a young girl's voice called out.

They all turned their heads to see a young girl run up to Hank, followed by a young woman with flowing auburn hair and who wore a scarlet jacket. Raven couldn't help the sense of familiarity she felt as she looked at the two girls and see the similarities between them. Were they related?

Hank focused his attention on the little girl. "What is it?"

Raven studied the girl. She had to be eight, nine, maybe ten years old. She had hair green as jade, her mutant marker most likely, in a braid and matching green eyes. She seemed so familiar, but Raven couldn't for the life of her understand why.

"Wanda's cat Ebony is still missing. Have you seen it?" the little asked.

Hank shook his head. "No, I haven't."

The little girl and young woman noticed Raven and Kurt.

"Oh, hi," the little girl smiled. The familiarity grew stronger.

"Are you a new student here?" the girl asked. The woman beside her looked at Kurt curiously.

The boy's tail twitched nervously. "Uh…" he glanced at Raven and she nodded towards Hank. "I'd like to be, yes," he said.

Hank nodded. "Of course your welcome."

A smile appeared on Kurt's face. "I'm Kurt Wagner," he introduced himself to the two girls, holding out his hand.

The older girl shook first. "Wanda Strange."

He then turned to the younger girl who smiled brightly at him. "Lorna Xavier."

Raven's eyes widened, and for the first time in a long time she was cut off guard. Now she saw it: the nose bridge, the arch of her eyes, and the round cheeks. It all reminded Raven of Charlotte back when they were children. She also noticed the familiar green eyes, the smile, and stubborn chin, and instantly knew who the girl's father was as well.

Hank saw the conclusion in Raven's eyes and quickly suggested to the kids, "Lorna, why don't you and Wanda show Kurt around and maybe you'll find Ebony along the way."

The boy glanced at Raven. She nodded.

Lorna smiled. "Great." She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hallway with Wanda.

Raven then turned back to her old friend. "Hank…" she spoke.

Hank shook his head. "Not here. Come on." He took her downstairs towards the basement.

000{{*}}000

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it. I wanted to give more insight as to what Wanda's life has been like so I hope guys liked it.**


	23. Apocalypse: Chapter 22

**Hey guys, I hope everyone had a good fourth of July. My family had a party, we ate, played some volleyball, jumped in the pool, and played water balloon toss. It was fun.**

 **Thank you guys for the patient wait. I hope you all like this chapter.**

Chapter 22

They gave up trying to look for Ebony after showing Kurt everywhere around the school, and there was no sign of the cat. Wanda reassured Lorna that she was sure Ebony was fine and would likely turn up soon.

In the meantime, she was getting to know Kurt Wagner as she showed him around. She learned that he was a shy but sweet boy that you couldn't help but love. He had grown up in Germany in a traveling circus until he was taken and forced into a mutant fighting club. That was until recently, Mystique rescued him. Wanda had suspected, but was still surprised when she realized that Mystique was the same woman who had brought Kurt here. She, Jean, and practically everybody in the school idolized her ever since the incident in Washington years ago.

Wanda had to smile at the childlike awe and excitement in Kurt as she showed him around.

"It's my first time in America. I'm very excited to see your culture," he said.

"Well, you're not going to see it here," Scott spoke up from the couch he was lounging on as they came by. "The only thing American about this place is that it use to be British."

Wanda rolled her eyes at him. "This is Scott. He's new here too," she told Kurt.

"And I'm already up for a prison break." Scott stood up and walked over towards them. "So what do you say we take this blue guy on a little field trip. I'm sure there's a mall around here, somewhere."

"What's a mall?" Kurt asked.

Scott snickered, incredulously. "What's a mall? Alright, now this is a matter of national pride. Civic duty."

"Scott." Jean came up to him.

He turned to her. "What? You've been cooped up here for a long time, and the Professor's not even home."

"I-I'd like to go to the mall," Kurt said. They all looked at him. "Try it."

Wanda shifted a little. "It has been a while since I last went."

Scott grinned. "All right, it's settle. Where does she keep the cars.

000{{*}}000

There was nobody down to hear them, but as Hank took her to the hanger, Raven was amazed of the jet inside. So much like the one they'd flown in Cuba, but bigger.

Hank smiled when he saw the awe in her expression. "Hypersonic, blast resistant, stealth technology," he explained.

"It's impressive," Raven breathed. "How are you ever gonna get it out of here?"

"Well, I built a retractable roof into the basketball court," he answered her.

Raven looked at it, a million thoughts running through her head. "Hank, you're building a war plane down here."

"After what happened in Washington, I thought we were going to come back and start the X-men like we all used to talk about, but…" Hank trailed off.

"Charlotte wants students, not soldiers," Raven finished.

"She thinks the best of people," Hank said. "She has hope."

Raven could sense that his thoughts were different from Charlotte's. "And you?"

Hank thought for a moment. "You know, I think we should hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. I think the world needs the X-men." He looked down shyly, as he said, "And maybe, now that you're back, you can help me convince her. We could start it together."

"Hank, I'm here about Erik," Raven interrupted him. She hated dashing his dreams like this, but Erik needed her and Charlotte's help. She instantly saw the anger and hatred in Hank's expression at the mention of Erik's name.

"Right, Erik." Hank should have known. That man, no matter how much he hurt them, got the love, compassion, and loyalty of the Xavier sisters.

"Of course." The man shot and paralyzed Charlotte, dropped a stadium on her, string her along, abandon her twice, and leave her to the pick up the pieces of the life he shattered over and over again.

"Of course." And Raven was always ready to be by his side even when he tried to kill her, and even after all the horrible things he did to her sister, someone Raven was suppose to love.

Raven should have known Hank would be upset, but she needed him and Charlotte's help to find Erik. "I think he might be in some kind of trouble. Real trouble."

That didn't seem to have any effect on Hank, who turned to look at her. "Isn't he always?"

Raven couldn't believe his heartlessness. She knew he wasn't Erik's biggest fan and she didn't blame him after everything, but he didn't know everything that had happened to Erik. "This time it's worse," she told him.

"Worse than trying to assassinate the president?" Hank asked her, sarcasm in his voice.

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "Tell me, Hank, how long was Charlotte planning on keeping her a secret from him?"

Hank's eyes widened then glared so fiercely at Raven she knew she crossed a line when she thought she saw a flicker of amber in them and thought he might shift into his beast form.

"You don't get to play that card," Hank growled. "Not after you decided that you no longer gave a damn for Charlotte, and left her to clean up your's and Erik's messes. You have no right to judge her, and don't even think of threatening her or Lorna."

Raven felt as if Hank had just slapped her, and even Hank was taken aback by his own outburst.

Guilt filled him, and he tried to apologize. "I… I shouldn't have said those things to you."

Raven shook her head. "No, you're right. I have no right to judge Charlotte for keeping secrets. I sure have my own." She took a deep breath to release the tension she felt. "But I am serious, Hank. Erik's in a bad place, and I believe Charlotte's the only one who can help him."

Hank was still reluctant, but he nodded. "She's out right now, but we can wait in her office. She shouldn't be much longer."

They headed upstairs, and went into Charlotte's office. It had changed little since the days Raven had been here years ago. Everything was neat and organized with stacks of paper on the desk and an unfinished chess set on the side.

As Raven wandered around, she saw photographs on the desk. One was of Charlotte and Lorna. The little girl was sitting in her mother's lap, a huge grin on her face as if she was up to some kind of mischief. Charlotte's smile was full of warmth and love, and there was a spark in her eyes that Raven had never seen before. The other photo seemed to be a picture of a grainy ultrasound. Raven was no medical expert. She had been pregnant before and had never gone for an ultrasound for fear of her mutation being discovered, but the picture looked old, and the shape… were there two heads?

Hank cleared his throat, and Raven looked at him.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink, or…?" he trailed off.

Raven shook her head.

She walked over to one of the windows, and sure enough, she saw Lorna playing basketball with some of the older students outside. Guilt hit her as she watched the little girl laughing and having fun. She was so innocent, and reminded Raven so much of Charlotte. She could remember times when they were little and dreaming of families of their own someday. Raven always use to tease that she'd be the fun-loving aunt who spoiled Charlotte's children and tell them embarrassing stories of their mother. She always knew Charlotte would be a wonderful mother, and the proof of that was happily playing outside.

"She gets along well with all the students here," Hank spoke, standing right beside her as they looked on through the window. "Knows practically everyone here, and tries to make them feel welcome here. Somehow, she always knows when someone new comes here and-"

"Hank, please," Raven stopped him. She didn't want to know. Not now, maybe not ever. It would be easier. The less she knew about her niece, the less guilt she felt of all the people she had already abandoned in her life. She didn't want to know more than she needed to. The one good thing about this is that she now had a better idea as to how they could help Erik.

000{{*}}000

He was numb all over, covered in dirt after burying his family. Erik hadn't closed his eyes once since then. Everytime he did, he saw the image over and over again.

His Magda and Nina pierced with an arrow.

Their bodies in his arms.

Somehow, Erik put one foot in front of the other, until he was at the factory where just the day before he had been working like a good citizen until he saved a man's life.

He went inside, then with his powers, shut and locked every door and every exit, trapping the men inside with him. He made the machinery stop, causing the workers to look around in confusion until they saw him. Fear showed in their eyes as they looked upon the man who seemed to have gone through hell.

"Some of you spoke to the police, about what you believe you witnessed here yesterday," Erik told them, his voice sounding so broken and pained that it was impossible for none of the men to hear it.

"You want to know my powers? Know who I am? See what I can do?" Erik asked. "I'll show you. Think of the person you love most in your life. Your wife. Mother. Daughter," Erik's voice broke and a tear escaped him as the picture of his little girl appeared before him. Then she was gone, replaced by the frightened men who had started all this. "Now that person will know what it is to lose someone they love, and live with that pain. Forever."

"Henryk, please," one of the workers begged. "Don't do this!"

He shook his head. "My name isn't Henryk."

Henryk Gurzsky and Erik Lehnsherr were both dead.

"My name is Magneto."

The factory shook, and unlike yesterday it was no earthquake. Erik reached out, ready to bring it all down on top of the men and himself and end this.

But then, he heard something behind him that caused him to stop and turn around to see what the cause was.

"Who the f*** are you?"

There were four individuals. A young woman with white hair, an older woman with purple tinged hair, and a boy with metal wings. But in the middle of then was a man dressed in some kind of armor who stepped towards Erik.

"Stay back!" Erik warned him. Memories of the times Charlotte had tried to stop him from killing flashed in his mind. He wouldn't let this being do the same. "Whoever you are, don't try to stop me from killing these men."

The man simply cocked his head before his eyes turned white. Screams were heard, but were suddenly silenced.

Erik turned his head and saw the limbs of the men he had planned to kill, sticking out of the hard floor, twitching. It was as if they had sunked in quicksand. He turned to the man, surprised.

The man looked at Erik, and he felt like the man was looking into his very soul, ripping any boundaries he had left.

"I'm not here for them," his voice sounded ancient and rusty. "I'm here for you." He turned away from Erik and went back to the group of people who came with him. Some kind of purple energy began to surround them, and the man turned back to Erik.

"Come and see," he motioned to Erik.

Erik didn't realize what he was doing until he found himself inside the dome of energy and was taken away from the life he had known for ten years.

000{{*}}000

Auschwitz

When the energy disappeared, Erik realized that the man had taken him to the last place he ever wanted to see again. He recognized the barbed wire, the brick buildings, and the dirt paths.

He barely heard the man's voice speaking to him as he walked down to the too familiar path. "This is where your power was born, and this is where your people were slaughtered."

Erik remembered.

 _He remembered the cold rain and mud._

 _The metal gate he had bent._

 _The sight of his sister's auburn locks as he was lead away from her._

 _The cries of his mother as she and his father were taken away from him._

 _The desperation he felt trying to get to them. To not be left alone in the cruel world they were in._

"You shouldn't have brought me here." He turned away from the metal gate and glared at the man.

"Why? Are you afraid to be here? You can't escape it, Erik," the man's voice was like a snake's to Erik, giving him a wary feeling.

"Who are you?"

"Elohim, Shen, Ra. I've been called many names over many lifetimes," the man said to Erik as he approached him closer. "I am born of death. I was there to spark and fan the flames of man's awakening, to spin the wheel of civilization, and when the forest would grow rank and needed clearing for new growth, I was there to set it ablaze."

If this man was some kind of god then what happened to him? Why did he let so many atrocities happen to Erik and his kind? Erik asked him, "Where were you when my father and mother were slaughtered in this place?"

The man or god closed his eyes. "Asleep. Trapped in darkness." He looked at Erik with sympathy. "I was not there for you, my son, but I am here now. You don't know your own strength, but I do."

He looked down at the ground on which he and Erik stood. Taking his hand, he brought it down until Erik was touching the rough ground below. "Reach down. Feel the metal in the ground. Reach as deep as you can," he told Erik before standing up and backing away from him. "You'll find you have the power to move the very earth itself."

He was right. Erik could feel all the metal deep inside the ground below him. Like that day so many decades ago when he first experienced his power, Erik felt his power surging through him. He felt his sorry and anger channeling him as he felt the metal, grasping it, and pulled. He thought of his mother, his wife, and daughter.

 _Lighting candles with his mother on Hanukkah._

 _The shot that ended his mother's life, and the thud of her body hitting the ground._

 _The arrow piercing into his wife and daughter._

They all flashed before him as he stood up, dragging all the metal underneath up. It all rose to the air like a tempest, destroying everything around Erik and the mutants as they watched.

 _His struggle to life the single coin that had cost him his mother's life._

 _Magda hugging their daughter close to her._

 _Nina closing her eyes, a peaceful smile on her lips._

"Everything they've built will fall, and from the ashes of their world, we'll built a better one!" En Sabah Nur declared, watching with relish as Erik unleashed his power, destroying all of Auschwitz around them.

Thunder and lightning filled the sky above them, but erik didn't care. He roared in agony for the loss of everything he had ever held dear.

000{{*}}000

" _Lehnsherr was identified yesterday in this small town in central Poland. Leaders from all communities are urging their citizens to remain calm as police and armed forces are mobilizing to find Lehnsherr, or as he is also known Magneto, contact your local authorities immediately and cede with caution. As he is considered extremely dangerous,"_ the news reporter on the television reported.

Peter listened and watched all this with growing tension. In his hands he held the card he had taken off Charlotte Xavier ten years ago at the time his life had changed forever. So close, and yet too late.

"Peter!" the sound of his mother- adopted mother's voice jerked him from his thoughts.

In a flash, he had already changed the channel of the tv and was playing Pac-Man. "What's up?" he called back as Marya came down.

She looked at him suspiciously. "Just checking on you."

"I'm good. Playing Pac-Man," Peter responded, not taking his eyes off his game.

Marya picked up the tv remote laying out and changed the channel back to the news talking about Magneto. "Sure you weren't watching this?" she asked him.

His player died, and Peter stiffened.

"You're going after him, aren't you?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders, trying to be nonchalant. Marya Maximoff may not be his birth mother, but she had raised him and knew him well enough. "You wanted me to get out of the house more, right?"

Marya sighed. "I can't stop you. Nobody can. But trust me this won't end well. Nothing does with him."

Peter turned around and looked at her. "I'm not afraid of him." He hadn't been afraid of anything since he learned the truth years ago. Nothing else could hurt Peter or frighten him.

Fear and worry showed in Marya's eyes as she looked at him. "You should be." She left him alone in the basement with sad acceptance.

Peter took out the card he had taken from Miss Charlotte all those years ago and kept all this time. Ever since that fateful meeting and the Washington incident in '73, the life Peter had known had ended. Marya had told him the truth about his adoption, and for several days, Peter had been in a state of shock, running so fast and so far, he left the safety of the places he knew and into the world.

He was adopted.

After recovering from the shock, Peter had traveled around the world in search of his real parents based in the clues his moth-adopted mother had given him. It had taken years before Peter finally found the truth, and he couldn't believe it. His real parents were Erik Lehnsherr and Charlotte

Xavier. What's more was that he had met them before. Peter just couldn't believe the irony of it all.

His hand picked up the Star of David hanging around his neck. All this time, he had assumed it had belonged to his fath-adopted father Django. The man whom Peter had believed to be his father, who had tucked him in at night, bandaged his skinned knees, and helped him learn how to read. But no, the Star had been found wrapped in the blanket Peter had been in when the Maximoffs took him into their home. The only explanation for it was that it had belonged to his birth parents. When he discovered their identities, Peter realized which one of them the Star had to have come from. He had been tempted at first to rip the necklace and throw it far from him, but just taking it off made Peter feel like he was tearing a piece of himself off, so he kept it on and was glad. It was the one connection he had to his birth parents.

Maybe it was the memories of Django and Marya happily raising him despite their poor circumstances that had kept him from finding and confronting his birth parents, or maybe it was the fear of rejection that kept him. That and maybe because he had no idea where to find Lehnsherr until today, and even then Peter doubted he'd be able to find him after all already visiting the house he had lived in already abandoned and under police watch.

But Peter knew where to find his birth mother Charlotte Xavier. He looked down at the card in his hands. Yes, he knew where she lived, and maybe should would know where to find Peter's father. It was worth a shot.

Peter swallowed. Gathering up his favorite jacket, running shoes, and goggles, he headed out of his childhood home.

After all these years, it was time Peter saw his parents again.

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys think? I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and I hope I did a good job writing everybody's characters. Let me know, please.**


	24. Apocalypse: Chapter 23

**Hello everyone! I was so happy to read everyone's reviews. They cheered me up so much after the hard night of work and babysitting I had to do. I know you guys are probably wondering why Charlotte doesn't know Peter or Wanda are her children considering she has cerebro, but I've read a little and learned that because Peter's mind thinks so fast it's hard for Xavier to keep up with his thoughts, and also that Wanda has the ability to resist telepaths so there's your answer. Also, the circumstances on Wanda's adoption our based off facts I found on Marvel. The demon Chthon did try to possess the baby Wanda shortly after her birth. I hope this next chapter pleases everyone. I had a little fun writing it all the other day.**

Chapter 23

It had been a while since Wanda had this much fun at a mall. Usually she went for holiday shopping with her parents, and one time she went with Jean and Jubilee to celebrate finals a couple years ago.

They played in the arcade, and ate at the food court where Kurt nearly had a panic attack when he got brain freeze from drinking a slushy and didn't know what was going on. After that episode, they began to shop around a little. After finding out that Kurt owned no clothing but the old-fashioned outfit he wore, his new friends took him to the closest clothing store where Scott helped him pick out some clothing. Wanda had to insist on paying for all of it when they were done, considering that she carried the most money out of the group.

Kurt tried to protest. "I couldn't possibly pay you back for all of it."

Wanda waved dismissively. "Forget about it. My father always sends me money for emergencies, and it's more than I know what to do with." Of course, her father might not consider a shopping spree an emergency, but helping a friend out would.

They shopped around a little bit longer, and then went to the movie theater where Scott insisted that they watch the new Star Wars movie that had just come out. Not many people knew it, but Wanda actually liked the series, having gone to see them with Jean and Jubilee over the years, and she loved the character Princess Leia.

As they watched the movie, Scott would whisper to Kurt on who the characters were and what was going on, but as the movie played on, Wanda's hand found the metal rose hanging around her neck. She felt sorry for Luke Skywalker throughout the movie as he struggled with the knowledge of his family heritage. After she had discovered that she was a mutant, her father had revealed to Wanda the truth of her adoption.

Dr. Stephen Strange and a handful of sorcerers from Kamar Taj had uncovered a cult under Chthon who had planned on releasing him into the world by sacrificing a newborn baby strong enough for him to possess: Wanda. Stephen had determined that she must have been a few days old when the cultists had abducted her from wherever she had come from. Before they could succeed in bringing their dark master into the world, Stephen and his band of sorcerers stopped them and saved Wanda. Many of the cultists had been killed during the struggle, and the last surviving one committed suicide before he could reveal anything as to where they had taken Wanda from. Seeing no other option other than to keep her safe, Dr. Stephen Strange adopted the orphaned baby and raised her as his own.

Wanda Rose Strange. The name that had been stitched been stitched into the blanket Wanda had been found in, and the flower necklace found in it. There were no clues as to where Wanda had come from and nothing else that could identify her.

When the movie came to the scene where Luke revealed to Leia their relation, Wanda felt tears in her eyes. How horrible it seemed, to know someone for years, and not know that you were related felt like a robbery to Wanda.

She felt a gentle touch in her mind, and turned to see Jean looking at her with concern as the movie played. Wanda smiled weakly, trying to assure her friend that she was fine. Dear Jean. she was the only person whom Wanda had ever told of her adoption. Not even the Professor knew, unless her father had told her.

It wasn't that Wanda didn't love Stephen or Christine. She did with all her heart. Christine had been the most kind, loving, and understanding mother Wanda could have ever asked for until her death over a year ago, and Stephen, while not perfect, was an amazing father to Wanda. He was always there when she needed him to, he taught her to be open minded, and protected her no matter what. Yet, ever since Wanda had discovered that she was adopted, it felt like she had uncovered a hole in her heart that had been there for years without her knowing.

Who were her real parents?

Where were they from?

Did they love her?

She felt the petals of her rose necklace against her fingers. Yes, Wanda believed they had loved her, otherwise they wouldn't have left something so beautiful for her.

When Darth Vader died in Luke's arms, the tears finally fell down Wanda's face for Luke's loss despite the horrors Vader had inflicted. Wanda might never know where she had come from, and that thought filled the hole in her heart with pain.

When the movie ended, she made sure neither of the boys saw any evidence of the tears she had cried.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte could feel Maurice's excitement as they neared the school, stopping right in front of the entrance.

Maurice rolled down his window so that he could look closer at the mansion before him. "I've read so much about this place."

Charlotte couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on her face as she heard the awe in his voice.

"But being here, it actually seems kind of… familiar," Maurice commented, a little confused. "Strange."

Charlotte felt Alex's eyes on her, and she cleared her throat. "Quite. Shall we?"

They exited the vehicle and made it inside. Charlotte lead the men to her office where she believed Hank would be waiting for them.

"Hank? I'd like you to meet…" Charlotte stopped talking when she entered the room and realized that her friend and colleague wasn't alone.

Raven stood up from her seat when she saw the third person with Charlotte and Alex, surprised. "Maurice."

"Raven?" Charlotte and Alex both looked at her in surprise. Maurice though looked at Raven, then Charlotte, then back to Raven, looking confused. "I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked Raven.

There was an awkward pause of silence.

"Uh, Hank, Alex, Agent MacTaggert, would you give us just one moment please?" Charlotte asked.

Hank and Alex obeyed, and Maurice, while still perplexed, did as well.

Raven walked over towards her sister and waited till the door was shut before launching her questions. "Charlotte, why didn't he recognize me? He knew me in this form."

Charlotte pushed her wheelchair behind her desk as she answered, "Well, after you left me on the beach in Cuba, I took his memories of that time."

"Lucky guy," Raven muttered as she sat down in the chair in front of Charlotte's desk.

Charlotte observed her sister. She could shapeshift her looks to hide her true age, but despite the years they had been estranged, Charlotte knew her sister. "It's good to see you, Raven. Welcome home."

"This isn't my home," Raven's voice cut into her.

Charlotte leaned forward in her chair. "It was once."

"No, it was your home," Raven disagreed. "I just lived here. I barely even recognize it now."

Charlotte pushed her chair away from her desk. "You know, I have plans for this place," she said to her sister. "I mean to turn it into a real campus. A university. Not just for mutants either, for humans too. Living and working, growing together."

She looked out the window and saw her students walking and playing outside, her daughter among them. That had been her dream for so long: to teach both mutants and humans how to live together in peace.

Charlotte's dream sounded so nice to Raven. "You know, I really believed that once," she admitted to her sister. "I really believed we could change them after D.C."

"We did," Charlotte reminded her.

Raven shook her head. "No, Charlotte. They still hate and fear us. It's just harder to see because they're more polite about it. I got sick of living that lie."

"That's why you're not in your natural blue form," Charlotte stated. She had wondered why after all of Raven's talk on being "Mutant and Proud" she was hiding her form again.

"I'm not gonna be the face of a world that doesn't exist," Raven spat, all her bitterness and anger showing in her tone.

Charlotte looked at her with soft gentleness. "Things are better. The world is better."

"Maybe in Westchester," Raven said. "Out there, mutants are still running, hiding, living in fear. Just because there's not a war, doesn't mean there's peace. You want to teach your kids, your daughter something, teach them that. Teach them to fight. Otherwise they might as well live this house for the rest of their lives." Raven's voice had risen, showing more of her anger and passion the more she spoke.

Charlotte's blood boiled. She should have known Raven would learn of Lorna while she was here, but the way she was speaking… There was a reason why Charlotte had refused to restart the X-men. This was a school not a military camp. With children as young as Lorna. The thought of her little girl putting herself in danger along with so many other children under Charlotte's care, sickened her more than anything. Especially when she thought of the first children she had placed in danger, including her twin babies.

"You still sound just like him." she told Raven angrily. They both knew who the "him" was. "You still sound just like Erik."  
Raven's eyes softened, and Charlotte believed she saw pity in them as she looked at her.

"I know about Lorna," Raven told her. "And I don't judge you. Erik's the reason I'm here. He's resurfaced."

Raven hesitated, causing Charlotte to sit up straighter in her chair and her worry to grow. What happened? Was Erik alright? She could feel Raven's sorrow, and hear the wish not to tell her sister this news.

"He had a wife and a child. They were killed. Along with a handful of policemen."

 _On no._

Charlotte felt her heart ache. Not for the fact that Erik had moved on- she had accepted that over the years- but for the pain she knew he was going through. She knew Erik didn't take loss well. She remembered the pain she went through when she lost her twins and how it festered in her heart for years before she finally moved on. That was one of the reasons why never told Erik about them. If Erik didn't know he had fathered two children and they were lost, he couldn't be hurt. For Erik to lose a child that he had known and raised… _Oh, Erik._

"The whole world will be looking for him," she whispered.

Raven nodded. "But you can help me find him before they do."

Raven didn't need to say anymore.

They both went down to Cerebro, taking Hank, Alex, and Maurice with them.

"Maurice, I'm going to have to ask you to keep this a secret," Charlotte told the agent as they all went into Cerebro.

The man looked at the place, bewildered. "I don't even know what this is."

"It's Cerebro," Raven told him as she, Charlotte, Hank, and Alex gathered around the consul. "The new model." This machine was so different to the one Raven remembered back in '62. Back when everything seemed so new and exciting.

"Yeah, I based the color on-" Hank cut himself off as he glanced at Raven.

The hardcore and fearless Mystique could swear for the first time in years that she was blushing as she realized what Hank meant.

The man himself was blushing as well before he shook his head of the old feelings he felt for  
Raven. "It doesn't matter."

Charlotte suppressed a smile as she placed the helmet on her head. Hank flipped on the switches and Cerebro came to life.

Maurice gasped in surprise when the room all of a sudden changed. Even Raven was amazed as she saw all the lights around them. This was very different to the first Cerebro she remembered.

"What are those?" Maurice asked, pointing to the white spots of light around them.

"Those are all the humans of the world," Charlotte answered him. The lights suddenly turned from white to red. "And these are all the mutants. I'm connected to all of their minds."

She could feel Maurice's amazement as he took this all in. "The CIA would kill for this," he said out loud.

"I know they would," Charlotte muttered darkly. Literally. Anonymity was the first line of defense she once told Maurice.

She focused on finding Erik's mind among the millions on the planet. "Where are you Erik?"

Erik was watching as En Sabah Nur finished creating Angel's armor when he felt it.

 _Erik…_

It was like a gentle caress in his mind. One he hadn't felt in a long time. He turned away from his group and walked a little ways from them. It couldn't be. Could it?

"Charlotte?"

She found him. "Hello, old friend."

Charlotte looked inside his head and her heart broke for him. _Magda. Nina._ It was a pain she was all too familiar with. Tears welled up in her eyes and a sob escaped her. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry! I feel your pain and your loss."

What did she know? Erik thought. He no longer wanted her inside his head, but found that he couldn't bring himself to break the connection. "You think because you can see into my head, you know how it feels?" he questioned her. "You're looking in the wrong place, Charlotte."

Charlotte tried not to let his words cut her, but they did, releasing the memories she had locked up years ago. _Her beautiful babies lost in the fires that separated them. The midwife carrying them to safety, while Hank, Alex, and Sean carried her out of the chaos the opposite direction. Never being able to find them even with Cerebro, and forced to resign herself to the fate that she might never see them again, see their first steps, hear their first words, and experience every milestone in their lives._

"What happened to them, it was terribly wrong," she spoke for Magda, Nina, and her twins. A tear escaped her eyes. "But come back to us. I can help you," she pleaded unto him.

"Help me?" Erik asked her.

"Think of your wife, think of your daughter, what would they have wanted?" Charlotte tried to reason with him.

"They would have wanted to live!" Erik growled at her. She never knew them. She did not get the right to think she knew what they would have wanted. "I tried your way, Charlotte." He did what she had wanted him to do: move on, find happiness. "I tried to be like them. Live like them. But it always ends the same way."

 _Not always,_ Charlotte thought, but didn't share. She thought of her beautiful and amazing daughter, Lorna. The daughter she and Erik had created together. She wanted to tell him about her, but she couldn't, not now. Not when he was in the fresh stages of mourning for his other daughter and the woman he had created her with.

"They took everything away from me," Erik told her. He turned around, and Charlotte saw his surroundings through his eyes. "Now, we'll take everything from them."

"Hank," she spoke, worriedly. He kneeled down beside her. "He's not alone."

She saw two women, a boy with metal wings, and … a man. She recognized him from Jean and Wanda's dreams. She watched from Erik's eyes, but when he looked in their direction, Charlotte felt he was staring right at her. Dread filled her.

"Extraordinary," she heard his raspy speak in awe.

"What do you see?" another voice, the boy's asked.

"The answer."

Charlotte knew she had to break the connection now, she even wanted to, but she couldn't. Alarms went off in Cerebro, and Hank tried to tell Charlotte to stop, but she couldn't. It felt like she wasn't in control of her own mind. The man-god's eyes glowed white and visions shot through Charlotte's mind. Visions she recognized from Jean and Wanda's nightmares. She gasped as horror filled her.

 _ **Thank you for letting me in.**_

The lights in Cerebro turned purple and everyone looked at it in worry. Charlotte could dimly hear Hank calling her as she began to lose control, not even realizing what she was doing as her consciousness faded into darkness while another's took control.

It was the shock from the helmet that brought her back, and the pain she felt. She screamed in agony as she fought the other presence in her mind. She felt him using her mind to connect with every military officer in the world's minds to launch everybody's nuclear missiles. She could feel everyone's fear as it happened, and could dimly hear Raven and Hank yelling above her, trying to figure a way to break her connection with this individual who had taken control of her.

"Hank! Do something!" she heard Raven.

She felt Hank rip the wires from the consul, causing Charlotte to scream in further pain. Make it stop. Make it stop!

"It won't shut down!" she heard Hank's cry.

It won't shut down?! Charlotte realized that meant only one thing left. "Alex!" she gasped.

"What?" Alex kneeled beside her.

"Destroy it! Destroy everything! Destroy Cerebro!" she screamed as she struggled against the other presence in her mind.

She saw Alex stand in front of her and then glance back at her.

"Wreak havoc!" she told him.

He unleashed his energy into the machine, screaming in pain. Charlotte's screams joined him as she felt the hot energy burning into her own mind, severing the connection at last. When Alex stopped and Cerebro was left a smoldering mess, Charlotte lost consciousness.

Raven watched with worry and fear as Hank and Alex pushed her sister out of Cerebro.

"Charlotte? Charlotte, are you okay?" Hank tried calling her, but Charlotte was unresponsive.

Alex stood up and looked past Raven. Raven followed his eyes at the same time she heard a rumble.

Down the hall, a purple ball of energy appeared and revealed five mutants. Erik among them.

Shock filled Raven as she looked at her old friend, and she saw surprise in his own eyes when he saw her. "Erik."

The blue man nodded at Erik, and Erik held his hand out. The wheelchair holding Charlotte was lifted off the ground and taken from Raven's group.

"Charlotte!" Raven screamed as her sister was taken from her and brought to Erik's group.

Alex shot past her, running after Charlotte.

"Alex!" Hank chased after him.

Raven watched as one of the mutants shielded her sister with his metal wings.

"Hey, asshole!" Alex yelled as he came nearer to them.

Raven caught Erik's eyes one last time before he turned away.

The blue man stepped in front of him with a malicious grin. "All will be revealed, my child."

"Stop!" Hank yelled.

Alex prepared to fire his energy at the other group as the same purple energy from before surrounded them.

"No!" But Hank's cries were too late.

Alex fired and the ball of purple energy disappeared, taking the mutants and Charlotte with them. Alex's energy shot past the open space, hitting through the hanger door before it hit the reactor of the Blackbird inside. It exploded in a big burst of fire.

000{{*}}000

Outside, as the bees buzzed, Peter Maximoff strolled down the road. Well, his definition of a stroll. He was in the middle of eating a twinkie, when he stopped at the address where Xavier's School for the Gifted was.

It was a mansion. Seriously? Was this the right place?

He turned his head and saw a car moving in slow motion down the road towards it, carrying four teenagers: a blue-skinned boy, a boy with red lensed glasses, a red headed girl, and a young woman Peter's age with beautiful auburn locks. They had to be mutants.

Peter glanced at the old card in his hands. He seemed to be in the right place. He sped into the house, looking everywhere he might find the Professor before he reached the basement.

Wow! Big explosion, and there were people nearby. Not good.

No matter, Peter cracked his knuckles and went to work.

He grabbed the three people who were trying to duck from the explosion midway and brought them outside. The explosion seemed like it would take out the entire house, so Peter set set on grabbing everybody and bringing them outside. He started in the entryway, grabbing kids and taking them outside. He climbed the exploding wood beneath his feet, grabbing the kids on the stairs before moving towards the next room, the library. He grabbed everybody in there and even managed to save the goldfish in there.

He checked the bathrooms, finding a kid trying to comb his hair. The kid would look better with a different do, Peter licked his hands and ran them through the boy's hair before taking him outside. Next, was the classroom which Peter easily emptied. He found a couple of teenagers on one of the balconies, the boy leaning into the girl, his tongue showing. Peter grimace in disgust before tossing them off where they would land in the pond nearby.

Next were the dorms. Peter began to empty them. He saw long curtains hanging in the hallway and an idea popped into his mind. Perfect. Grabbing them, he broke the windows and quickly arranged them among the trees. He tossed out more people from the window. He went into another dorm room and he took the girl he found in it before finishing off her soda. All this work was making him hungry.

He went into another dorm room, but found nobody in it except a dog eating into a pizza left out on the ground. Peter ate the pizza the mutt wasn't biting into before grabbing him and depositing him with the rest of the people he rescued.

He raced back in, grabbing a couple more people before he went to the roof where he found a little girl with cute green hair trying to coax a cat to come towards her. Peter grabbed the cat, placing it in the girl's arms before he grabbed her and ran off. That should be everyone. Peter already doubled checked.

He allowed time to slow down, and the house exploded. Everybody screamed as they hit the curtains Peter had hung out to catch them and everybody coughed as they usually did whenever Peter rescued someone. They all looked around, confused as to how they were all suddenly outside.

Peter placed the little girl he had just rescued down.

"Ebony!" she gasped, surprised to find the cat suddenly in her arms. She looked up at Peter in astonishment.

He grinned, taking off his goggles as he took on the whole scene.

"Wow!"

All these people he rescued from an explosion. Peter believed he set a new record.

000{{*}}000

 **I hope you guys all liked it. Please let me know.**


	25. Apocalypse: Chapter 24

**Hey guys, you have no idea how much your reviews mean to me. I came home the other night after a hard day's work and your reviews cheered me up so much. It made me write this chapter as quick as I could. I'm going to be very busy this week because of my work schedule, so I can' guarantee how often I'll be able to update, but I promise I'll try to work on this as often as I can.**

Chapter 24

"Wh-Wha-Where did you…?" Hank stammered as he looked at the silver haired boy who seemed to have come out of nowhere. How did he…?

"I was looking for the Professor. I thought she lived here," Peter told him, looking at the smoldering remains of the mansion before all of them.

Lorna looked at it in dismay. All her toys had been in there, along with her favorite blanket, and many other students' belongings. She could hear her mother's voice already telling her that while things could be replaced, lives couldn't be, so she tried not to let herself cry over this. She suddenly remembered her mom, but as she looked among their group she couldn't find her. That boy seemed to have gotten everyone out before the mansion exploded, but where was her mom?

"Uncle Hank, where's Mommy?"

Peter felt his eyes widened. He was sure he got everybody, but he couldn't find the Professor. Was she this girl's mother? And if so, did that make her his…?

Hank felt his heart being torn in two as Lorna looked at him with her piercing green eyes. Her words and Peter's reminded him of the horrifying moments that happened right before the explosion. "They took her."

What? Who took her? Lorna wanted to know. She felt so small and younger than her nine years. Her home was in ruins and her mother was gone. Her lip trembled and she hugged Ebony closer to her, burying her face into the cat's fur as she tried not to cry. She wanted her Mommy to hold her and tell her everything would be all right. She heard her classmates gass of astonishment, causing her to look up and see what the cause was. Her mouth dropped open, and she couldn't help but stare in awe when she finally noticed the blue-scaled woman with fiery red hair before her. Mystique. The hero. Hope filled Lorna. She could help them. She find her Mommy.

Raven realized that she was in her natural blue form as all the children stared at her. Instead of fear and hatred that she wa use to seeing, the children were all staring at her in awe and hope. She turned around and saw Hank looking at her knowingly.

"They look up to you," he said.

Raven couldn't believe it. She looked at her niece. Tears were still in her eyes from Hank's news that her mother was gone, but she was looking at Raven with such hope it nearly overwhelmed the woman.

"Right now, they need you." She looked at Hank and saw the same hope in his eyes.

"That's not what they need," she told him before she shifted, hiding her true form from everybody again. She couldn't be this hero everyone was expecting her to be. She was selfish and had done too many bad things to be even considered a good person.

A car pulled up into the driveway, grabbing everyone's attention. Scott, Kurt, Jean, and Wanda had seen the explosion as they returned from their little excursion. They immediately got out of the car, Scott running towards Hank as worry filled him. "What happened? Where's Alex?" he demanded, not seeing his brother among them. "Where's my brother?"

Everyone looked around worriedly.

Peter glanced around. "I'm pretty sure I got everybody." He started with those nearest to the blast and worked his way out. He even checked to make sure he didn't miss anybody.

Horror and despair hit Raven and Hank as they realized their friend wasn't with them. "Alex was closest to the blast," Hank said to Peter.

Wanda could feel horror and desperation fill Scott as he ran to the remains of the house. Jean, Wanda, and Kurt all followed him until he stopped where the mansion's entrance was.

"Alex," Scott whispered.

Jean covered her mouth as tears stung her eyes, feeling his pain.

His brother was gone. Dead. All while Scott had fooled around.

Wanda felt tears in her own eyes as she felt Scott's horror, his guilt, and his pain, threatening to overwhelm her.

Scott took off his glasses and he fell to his knees. Tears fell down his face and sobs escaped him.

Jean placed a hand on Scott's shoulder, wishing she could take his pain away from him. Scott put his glasses back on, and that's when Jean and Wanda heard them.

 _We're one click out._

 _All right, boys. This is it._

That didn't sound good. Both girls turned and the sound of a helicopter filled the air. "Scott." Jean pulled him from his mournful thoughts.

"Please remain calm. Medical assistance is on the way," the words were spoken through a speaker from the helicopter.

Jean, Scott, Wanda, and Kurt all hid behind the rubble as the helicopter reached the ground.

The blades flung dust and everybody covered their eyes as it opened and men began to come out. Raven didn't have a good feeling about this, and neither did Hank or Peter as they looked closer. How did they come so fast? Why would they come? People weren't too concern what happened to mutants.

Maurice didn't share the same suspicions as them. He waved his hand up. "Hey! Maurice MacTaggert, CIA!"

The men formed a line, causing Hank and Peter to look at them with even more suspicion. Another man came out of the helicopter. Why did he look familiar. Then he took his sunglasses off, and Raven recognized him. She could never forget those eyes that had looked at her with such hatred. Stryker!

"Wait!"

It all happened in slow motion for Peter. He turned around at her warning in time to see the fear in her eyes before another shout filled the air.

"Fire!"

It was some kind of blast Wanda couldn't be sure of, but it knocked out everyone in the group and they all dropped to the ground. Wanda could feel her own fear along with Jean, Scott, and Kurt's as they watched the soldiers come forward.

Their leader pointed out at the people he wanted to take.

"I want him," he pointed at Agent MacTaggert.

"Him." He pointed at Dr. McCoy.

"Him." The boy with silver hair.

Then he reached Mystique lying unconscious on the ground in her natural blue form. "And her."

The teenagers watched as the soldiers took the chosen ones and heard Stryker's orders to leave the kids which brought them some relief, until they saw one of the soldiers approach their hiding spot. They ducked out if sight.

"What do we do?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"Keep quiet," Wanda whispered. She looked at Jean and nodded.

Jean nodded back before concentrating.

The man walked passed them, looking around, even glancing at the spot where they were hiding, but giving off no sign that he could see them. Wanda sent some red energy into his mind, convincing him to return to his group.

"Clear!" he shouted before moving on and leaving them undetected. They all relaxed, but it was not over yet.

"Thanks, girls. We gotta help them," Scott said as they watched the men load Hank, MacTaggert, Peter, and Mystique into the helicopter. He turned to Kurt. "kurt, can you get us in that thing?"

"You want to get in there?" he asked, surprised. "What if the soldiers see us?"

"Don't worry, they won't see us," Jean reassured him. "Trust me."

Kurt took a deep breath then held out his hand. "Hold on."

They all did and they were transported from the ruins to the inside of the helicopter just as the door was closed shut, and a green electrical light filled the room they were in. They all breath heavily, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.

"Kurt, get us all out of here!" Scott didn't like this at all.

Kurt tried, but he shook his head. "I can't! When they closed the doors, there's some kind of electrical field. It's like Berlin all over!"

"Jean, Wanda, get in the pilots' heads. Don't let them take off!" Scott tried again.

Both girls shook their heads.

"I can't," Jean told him. "I can't reach the pilots. I can't reach anyone."

"Neither can I." Wanda was on the verge of panicking. "I can't even use my powers to break us all out."

They felt the helicopter lift off and were forced to hang on.

As the helicopter left, the children who had been left behind began to wake up.

Lorna groggily opened her eyes and saw no adult. Uncle Hank, Mystique, the CIA agent, or even the older kids who had just come back.

"Look!" she heard one of the students. They all looked up and saw trails of smoke leading up to the sky. What was going on? Lorna wanted her Mommy badly, but she knew she had to be brave like her mom always taught her to be. Brave and calm like Mommy. She turned to Jubilee, the oldest among them. They had to go someplace safe until Mommy or Uncle Hank returned. They had to stay together and be strong no matter what happens.

000{{*}}000

As the helicopter flew farther and farther away from Westchester and into the unknown, the teenagers tried to remain calm as they were all trapped with the unconscious prisoners they had tried to rescue. Wanda fiddled with her rose necklace as she struggled to remain calm. Lorna and the others were by themselves with no adults to protect them. Poor Lorna had to be terrified, losing her mother and uncle so quickly. Wanda wished that she could contact her father so he could go and help them, but she couldn't. She tried reminding herself that Lorna was more resilient than people thought, and with Jubilee they would be able to find someone who could shelter and protect them until they all come back.

Kurt was praying, and Wanda could see Scott looking downcast and knew he was thinking of his brother again.

"It should have been me," he said. He sounded like he was on the verge of crying again. "He was the one who was gonna do something with his life. He was always the one."

His sadness pierced Wanda's heart and Jean's. "That's not how he felt," Jean softly told him. "He felt you were the one that was gonna make a difference in the world. That you were gonna make a difference in the world. Maybe even change it."

"How do you know what he felt?" Scott asked her.

Jean's eyes turned sad, showing the burden she always carried because of her gift. "I know what everybody feels."

Scott looked at her, his sadness beginning to recede, and Jean placed her hand on top of his. Wanda smiled sadly at the tender scene before her. Kurt continued his praying, and Wanda looked over at the group of unconscious people before, especially Mystique. She had been in a lot of danger, growing up the daughter of the Sorcerer Supreme, but this was the first time she had been in it, knowing there was no way her father could save her and it terrified her. But she had to be strong. These people before her were counting on Wanda and her friends to help them, and the Professor needed them. Wanda didn't know how, but she knew they could do it.

They had to.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte was still unconscious when En Sabah Nur brought them to Cairo.

Erik had taken Charlotte out of her wheelchair, glaring at the boy Angel when he made a move to do so, and carried her to a flat stone where he could lay her until En Sabah Nur performed the next stage of his plan. As he carried her, he looked down upon her face. The years had been much kinder to her since the last time he saw her. Still as beautiful as ever.

He set her down on the ground with surprising gentleness. Then he realized her head would be laying on rough stone, so he took off her jacket, bundled it up, and placed it under her head. He couldn't resist the urge to brush the dark strands of hair in her face off, staring at her aged but breathtaking features. What was wrong with him? All these years and she still had this effect on him.

He then noticed the bracelets on her wrists and the rings on her fingers. All of them seemed to be handmade, and yet, Erik could see the love and hard work put into each piece. He didn't remember Charlotte as being such an admirer to jewelry except when they carried sentimental value. Who had given them to her? Friends? Students? Lovers? Jealousy ripped through him at the last thought. He then noticed letters in the charms hanging off her bracelets.

L and M.

Who was L and M? Was each of them a lover or something? He remembered seeing the CIA agent at the mansion after all these years.

He could feel the eyes of his fellow mutants on him, and he shook his head in disgust and shame. His beloved Magda and Nina hadn't been dead for twenty-four hours, and he was already being jealous that a former lover of his had moved on. He was despicable. He got up and turned around. His fellow horsemen were watching him, but their master's attention was on the city of Cairo before him. Erik glared at them, and Psylocke and Angel wisely looked away from him. Storm however, looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything.

He stood a good ways from Charlotte, and kept his face aloof as Charlotte began to wake up.

Charlotte groaned in pain as she woke up, her head aching. She could feel En Sabah Nur's eyes on her and his four horsemen, but when she reached out to hear their thoughts… she found nothing. It was like she was back on Hank's serum again.

"You're blocking me," she realized, looking up as the resurrected god came to her. "How?"

"I can shield their minds from your power," En Sabah Nur explained to her. "It's one of the many gifts I've acquired throughout the millennia."

He sat down in front of her. "But to see inside the mind, to control it, that's your gift."

Charlotte didn't like the way he was looking at her, as if she were some kind of specimen for him. She looked around and saw the girl from earlier with a white mohawk.

"You saw it didn't you?" En Sabah Nur's voice brought her back to look at him. "The glory of what's to come."

Glory? Charlotte was sick with disgust. Glory in killing millions, billions of lives? "You're going to take part in all this killing?" she asked Erik, looking at him. "Destruction?"

"It's all I've ever known," Erik told her coolly. He was a monster no matter how he had tried to tell himself differently.

Charlotte shook his head. "No, it isn't. You've just forgotten."

"No, Charlotte, I remember!" Erik's voice grew louder. "You're way doesn't work."

En Sabah Nur grinned cruelly at Charlotte. "I've shown him a better way. A better world."

"No! You've just tapped into his rage and pain. That's all you've done!" Charlotte angrily told him. This false god took advantage of Erik's vulnerable and grieving state, and twisted him for his own ends. Charlotte hated him for that, and she wouldn't let him succeed. She looked at Erik imploringly to see the madness in all of this. "I told you from the moment I met you: there is more to you Erik. There is good in you too."

Oh, Charlotte, as naive as ever. Erik was no longer that man Charlotte Xavier had been foolish enough to fall in love with all those years ago. He narrowed his eyes at his former love. "Whatever it is you think you saw in me, Charlotte, I buried it with my family."

000{{*}}000

In an unknown location, surrounded by green electrical lights, Raven Darkholme, Peter Maximoff, Hank McCoy, and Maurice MacTaggert groggily woke up from the drugs Stryker and his men had injected into them. Upon waking up and realizing that she was in her natural blue form, Raven automatically shifted into her favorite look out of habit.

Peter turned on his side and heard Hank groan next to him, causing Peter to open his eyes. He was blue and furry! Peter jumped to his feet and screamed, startling everyone.

"What?!"

"What's wrong with you?" Peter asked worriedly. Were they in some kind of lab about to be experimented on? Would Peter end up like the guy in front of him? "Is that going to happen to all of us?"

Hank looked at his apelike hands and sighed in annoyance. "No, I just left my meds in the house," he told Peter, getting to his feet.

"What happened? Where are we?" Maurice asked as he looked around.

Raven noticed a window high above them, and a man standing by it. "Hey!" she yelled.

"Hello, Mystique," a cold voice spoke from an intercom in their cell.

Raven recognized the voice. "Major Stryker," she growled.

"Colonel Stryker," he corrected her. "I wouldn't get too close to the wall if I were you. It may create some discomfort."

Maurice angrily stepped up closer to the window. "I'm Maurice MacTaggert. I'm a senior officer at the CIA."

"I know who you are Agent MacTaggert," the colonel told him.

Maurice glared at the younger man. "You cannot keep me here in this-"

"Actually, I can," the man's arrogant voice said. "A psychic event just destroyed every nuke from here to Moscow. That event emanated from exactly where we found you. At the home of the world's most powerful physic. So, you're going to tell me, where is Charlotte Xavier?"

The four prisoners glared at him. "It's not her you should be worried about," Maurice warned him. "There's someone else. Someone more powerful."

The mutants looked at him in worry. Was he talking about the man who had possessed Charlotte and had orchestrated her kidnapping? They had to do something, and Raven was willing to do anything to save her sister.

"If you let us out of here, we can help you," she said to Stryker.

She could hear the scorn and disbelief in Stryker's voice at his next words. "Do you really expect me to believe that? You can put on any face you want, but I know who you are. What you are."

He left them, and they were alone in their cell with each other. The mutants turned to Maurice.

"Het, Maurice, um… what did you mean when you said someone more powerful than Charlotte?" Hank asked him.

000{{*}}000

Outside the cell, Jean and Wanda carefully mind tricked the guards not to see them and directed them away from their spot.

"What's taking so long?" Scott asked Kurt who was trying to get into the cell and free their friends.

Kurt looked at him, worriedly. "I can't get in. They have a field around it, like the helicopter."

Scott sighed, frustrated. "There's got to be a way to cut the power off."

000{{*}}000

"Charlotte," En Sabah Nur leaned closer towards her, causing her to lean back in disgust. "You will send a message to every living mind. You will tell them that it is, En Sabah Nur, who will wreak this upon them."

Charlotte looked at Erik, unable to hide the worry she felt, and deep inside him, Erik was worried too of what En Sabah Nur could do to her should she refuse.

The false god kneeled down in front of Charlotte, cornering her. "Now, deliver my message."

Charlotte refused to let this monster intimidate her without a fight. "Even if I wanted to," she spat at him. "I couldn't reach that many people. I don't have Cerebro."

En Sabah Nur scoffed, standing up and looking down at her. "You don't need a machine to amplify your powers. You have me," he grinned, maliciously, filling Charlotte with dread.

000{{*}}000

Wanda, Jean, Scott, and Kurt tread the halls of the military base with caution, the girls mind tricking any guards that came by them. If they could find the generator and shut it down, not only would they be able to free their friends, but it could also serve as the perfect distraction.

They reached the end of a hallway where they found a hangar, and inside it a high tech jet.

Soldiers came by and the teenagers immediately hid behind the walls until they passed.

The hangar doors closed.

"Guys," Scott whispered. "That could be our way out of here."

000{{*}}000

 **I hope you guys liked this latest chapter. Your thoughts mean so much to me.**


	26. Apocalypse: Chapter 25

**Hey guys, thank you so much for waiting so patiently. These last couple of days have been hectic what with work and my family driving me crazy. I've been lucky to be even able to sit down and write down this chapter. I hope this next chapter is satisfying.**

Chapter 25

In their cell while Raven, Hank, and Maurice tried to figure a way out, Peter's mind raced a million miles per minute. He didn't know what he had expected during his search for his biological parents, but it certainly hadn't involved this scenario. He had so many questions, and he had searched the globe several times to find the answers to them only for his search to lead to even more questions. Now, twice he had been so close to finding them and twice he failed. Now, as he was stuck in this cell, he couldn't help but glance at the blonde haired woman, Mystique. He had listened to her and the blue guy Hank talking. Apparently, she was the Professor's sister, so he guessed that technically made her his aunt. Hope filled him, followed by an eagerness to talk to her. If she was the Professor's sister maybe she could tell him about his birth mother and maybe even his father. It was worth a shot.

"Is the Professor really your sister? Did you know Magneto?" he asked her.

Raven was looking at the electrified walls as she answered. "Yeah, she is, and I use to know Magneto, but I'm not so sure now."

Peter pressed on, even though he could feel Hank's eyes on him. "What are they like? I mean, what's she like, and what was he like? What's their story? Was he always a bad guy? Were they… in love?"

The kid asked a lot of personal questions. Ones that Raven didn't feel comfortable answering or felt that she could. "He wasn't… they were… it's complicated," she answered. She never really understood their relationship. She doubted even they could understand it. "Why do you care so much? Did you see his speech on tv, and hear about her through the paper, or something?"

Kind of all of it. After finding the truth about them, Peter had searched and read every bit of information he could find on them. He wanted to know everything about them. "Yeah, but uh…" he hesitated. He never really told anyone , but his adopted mother this secret, and it was kind of nerve wracking for him. He took a deep breath before letting it out, and he revealed his deepest secret. "They're my parents."

Twice in the last twelve hours Raven had been rocked to the core, and this time she wasn't the only one. Hank abruptly stopped his pacing and turned to look at Peter. Both of their expressions displaying utter shock of this news. "What?!"

Peter grinned nervously. "You know, Magneto and the Professor, they did it-"

"Yeah, I know," Raven interrupted him, her mind reeling. Finding out that she had a niece these last ten years was shocking enough, but a nephew as well? He couldn't be more or less than twenty. "Are you sure?" Was this even possible?

Peter nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I was born June 19th, 1963, and I was adopted by Django and Marya Maximoff in Transia when I was just a couple days old. And, uh…" He pulled out a necklace hiding inside his shirt, and Raven recognized the Star of David.

Hank felt his eyes widen further when he saw it. "Where did you get that?" He could remember seeing it around Charlotte's neck, her fingers touching it while she had a wistful look in her eyes whenever she thought of Erik. She had worn it throughout her pregnancy until she was forced to take it off during her labor and they all assumed it had been lost in the fires along with the twins.

"That cow lady, Bova, the midwife," Peter answered, dropping the star where it landed right in front of his heart. "It took me years, but I found her, and she told me that it had belonged to my birth parents. She left it to me when she gave me to the Maximoffs because she thought my mother was dead and wanted me to have something of hers and my father's."

Raven couldn't believe it. She recognized the name Maximoff, one of the mutants the Brotherhood had tried and failed to rescue back when they first started out. She did the math in her head, and realized that Peter had been born almost nine months after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also, the star around his neck, she recognized Erik's craftsmanship and knew it had been his a long time ago. It all seemed unreal, and yet… looking at him now she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. He looked so much like Erik. he had his nose, his narrow cheekbones, his lips, and his frame, and yet, Raven could see bits of her sister in him as well. Like her softer build and her sapphire eyes. He was definitely the son of Charlotte Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr.

Peter continued talking nervously under Raven and Hank's stunned gazes. "I met them both ten years back, but I didn't know the truth then. By the time I figured it all out it was too late, and so much time had passed. Then this week I saw him on tv again, and I came to that house looking for them both, but by the time I got there… late again." He tried to smile, but it was forced.

Raven and Hank's faces didn't move from his, and he faltered. "You know, for a guy who moves as fast as me I always seem to be too late."

There was a sadness in his voice. One that ripped into the heart Raven had tried to hide and protect for years. But with this boy staring at her with Charlotte's eyes, Raven felt compelled to help and protect this boy in a way she never could for her sister. She promised herself that she would help and take Peter to his parents the second this was all over. "Let's hope not this time."

Peter nodded. He had wanted to meet his birth parents so badly for so many years it had created an ache in his heart. To loose them before he had the chance to speak to them… "Yeah, seriously."

 _Hear me, inhabitants of this world,_ a feminine voice suddenly spoke inside everyone's heads.

Kurt, Scott, Jean, and Wanda all stopped their search in surprise when they heard the voice.

"What is it?" Scott asked.

"I think it's the Professor," Wanda answered him.

 _This is a message. A message to every man, woman, and mutant in the world. You have lost your way. But I have returned. The day of reckoning is here. All your buildings, all of your towers and temples will fall. And the dawn of a new age will rise, for there is nothing you can do to stop what is coming,_ Charlotte's voice spoke to every mind in the world, speaking in every language to ensure everyone understood the message.

' _Jean, Wanda…"_ her voice whispered inside the girls' heads. ' _If you girls can hear me, focus on my voice. Cairo. Find us. Cairo. Find us.'_

Charlotte hoped that the girls received her message as En Sabah Nur forced her to repeat the final words of his message. "This message is for one reason alone. To tell the strongest among you…"

"Those with the greatest power, this earth will be yours," the false god said to her.

"Those with the greatest power," Charlotte paused. She couldn't let this monster destroy everything she held dear. She thought of her friends, students, and children. Not just her daughter Lorna, but her twins somewhere among the billions of lives in the world, and it gave her the strength to resist En Sabah Nur. "protect those without."

Erik looked at her with surprise, and En Sabah Nur's eyes stopped their glow from enhancing her power. She glared at the monster defiantly. "That's my message to the world."

When Charlotte's speech ended, Hank looked at his friends. "How was Charlotte doing that without Cerebro?"

A tapping on the window above them prevented anyone from answering, and they turned to see Stryker.

"I know that voice. It's Xavier, isn't it? What's going on?" he demanded.

"We don't know!" Raven told him.

"We don't know, bro!" Peter yelled as well.

In the corridors, the teenagers looked at each other in shock.

"She just spoke to us," Jean whispered.

"I think she spoke to everyone," Scott said.

"I could hear her too," Kurt agreed.

Wanda shook her head. "No, no, she sent us a hidden a message," she motioned to Jean and herself. "One she knew only Jean and I would hear."

"We know where they are," Jean told them.

Because of Charlotte's speech, the teens had forgotten their task of remaining undetected when a guard made a turn in the hall and spotted them. "Hey!"

Kurt disappeared, grabbing the girls then Scott as the man fired at them, but they were gone.

They had been discovered. They had to hurry.

They continued down the hallways until they found a pair of heavyset doors with a warning sign on them. Scott looked inside their windows. "The generator. It's worth a shot."

"Kurt?" Jean asked and the boy nodded, transporting them into the room.

They approached the generators when they heard a growling. They realized it came from what had to be another cell that looked to hold dangerous animals.

"There's some kind of animal in there," Scott said as they heard the thing sniffing inside its cell.

Wanda didn't think so, and neither did Jean.

"It's no animal," the telepath spoke as she walked closer to it. "It's a man."

"Who is he?" Kurt asked, a little scared.

"That part of him has been taken away," Jean said as she delved into the prisoner's thoughts.

Wanda could feel his years of humiliation, anger, and hatred for the people doing this to him, and his desire to end the pain he was in and be free.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"I mean they turned him into some kind of weapon," Jean answered him.

They heard the doors to the room beginning to open and were quick to hide behind the cell where the prisoner was just as the doors were opened. They heard the dispatcher asking the group of soldiers if they had found the prisoners.

Wanda could feel the prisoners anger and desire for freedom, and decided to grant him that. Maybe he could help them. She lifted the locks and alarms went off. She could feel the men's fears as the door opened and the prisoner stepped out. She heard him breathing heavily and the sound of knives being unsheathed.

"Fire!"

Rounds were shot. The teenagers gasped and ducked. Wanda worried that they had already killed the man, but she heard the growels that must have come from him, then roars, and the men's screams, before the sickening sound of stabbing flesh penetrated the air.

Then it stopped, and a voice sounded on the speakers. "Weapon X is loose! I repeat, Weapon X is loose!"

They stepped out of their hiding spots, and Wanda nearly vomited from the smell and sight of the men's bloody bodies out in the hallway.

"You sure he's not an animal?" Scott asked as they stepped around the soldiers and puddles of blood.

Wanda bit her lip to keep herself from throwing up. They heard gunfire and screams downs the halls and realized this Weapon X was on a rampage. They continued on, trying to ignore the bloody messes they found. They raced down the halls, no idea where they were going and no clue of a plan until all of a sudden Scott stopped and Wanda nearly collided into him.

She noticed a man, he must be the prisoner, Weapon X. He wore some kind of gear that seemed to be digging into his body, and there were knifelike claws sticking out of his knuckles. What frightened Wanda was the wild look about him when he turned from the door he had been trying to exit and noticed them. Scott moved to take his glasses off and the man prepared to attack when Jean intervened.

"Scott, wait!" The man stopped and looked at Jean.

Wanda forced herself to calm down as her friend approached the wild man as one would an wounded animal. She could hear Jean sending soothing thoughts to the man and saw the man's claws slowly retracting into his knuckles, easing her worry just a little bit.

"Jean," Scott spoke, worried for her safety.

Wanda paced a hand on her shoulder. "Trust her." She believed Jean would be alright, and for some reason, she believed the man wouldn't harm her.

She watched as Jean carefully took the device on the man's head off and set it down, and then placed her hands on his face. She could sense Jean going through the man's mind, trying to piece together the memories of his identity. The man looked at Jean with such surprise Wanda's heart went out to him, knowing how difficult it must be for him not to remember who he was. Jean set her hands down at her sides and the man took out the rest of the gear sticking into his body. Wanda was amazed when she saw the wounds left from the screws heal instantly before their eyes. Then he dropped the gear off, and he looked at the rest of them. Wanda could sense his feelings of gratitude, and then he was off, going out the door and disappearing into the snowy woods.

"What's you do to him?" Scott asked Jean.

"I found a piece of his past and gave it back to him," Jean answered him. "Just the few memories I could reach."

They all looked out the door, no trace of the man they had released and who helped them.

"Hope that's the last we've seen of that guy," Scott said.

Wanda doubted it. She had the feeling that they would see him again someday. She just didn't know when.

000{{*}}000

In their cell, Hank, Peter, Maurice, and Raven looked up at the windows in worry as the alarms continued to go off. They had heard the gunfire, yelling, and screaming. Then men being flung into the window, causing them to hide out of sight for fear of whatever was attacking when noticed them.

Now, they heard nothing but the sirens which did not help them at all with their worry. It seemed like there was no one around which meant they were stuck in this cell with no way out.

Then at the window two figures came into view of the window.

"Kurt. Wanda."

The blue boy mouthed something.

"What?" they all asked. Raven pointed at her ear to tell Kurt and Wanda that they couldn't hear them.

Wanda said something to Kurt and pointed at something as well. Kurt placed his hand down, and his voice sounded fuzzy. "Stay away… from… the…"

"The what?" Hank asked.

Kurt made a rectangle motion. Wanda then pressed the intercom and her voice came out clearer. "The door!"

"Get away from the door!" Raven realized. They all hurried to get out of the direction of the door.

Kurt's voice sounded. "On three. One. Two."

 **Boom!**

Debris went flying into the room as the door was blasted into bits.

They came out and found Scott and Jean waiting for them.

"We know where the Professor is," Jean told them.

"I think we might have a way out of here," Scott added.

Wow.

"Well, you've been busy," Raven commented.

"We had a… little help," Scott said. "Let's go!"

They all raced down the hallways towards the hangar. Kurt and Wanda appeared suddenly in front of Scott and Peter, startling the boys. Kurt apologized sheepishly, but they continued on towards the hangar.

000{{*}}000

In Cairo, En Sabah Nur, his four horsemen, and Charlotte looked at the city before them.

"This was meant to be the center of the universe before I was betrayed," En Sabah Nur said. Then raising his hands up. "Now, it will be."

The five other mutants watched as buildings were decimated, shifting into sands. Even without her telepathy, Charlotte could hear the screams of people from up here as all this happened. The sands flew and created a pyramid unlike anything Charlotte had ever seen. When it was done, the pyramid stood out tall and proud among the destruction surrounding it.

 _Oh, Wanda, Jean, Raven, Hank, all of you, please hurry,_ Charlotte thought with urgency.

000{{*}}000

They all entered the hangar and were amazed by the impressive, high tech jet before them.

"Nice," Hank said, already forming a liking to it.

"Hey, Hank, do you think you can fly this thing?" Raven asked him.

It was different to the blackbird, but not too much. "Yeah, I can figure it out."

"Hey guys," Scott's voice caught their attention. They realized he had discovered flight suits for everyone.

Raven turned to Hank. "You got your warplane. Let's go to war."

They would be fighting a god and four of the world's most powerful individuals while trying to save the Professor and the world. It wouldn't be easy, but they could do it. They had to.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte watched as En Sabah Nur shifted the sands of the rocks next to him and they formed into a mass in his hands. She recognized the helmet Erik had always worn that shut her out of his mind.

"A gift from the past you left behind, and the future that lies ahead," he said as he offered the infernal thing to Erik. "You will reach down, my son. Deep into the earth. Rip everything they've built from the ground. Wipe clean this world. And we will lead those that survive into a better one."

It all sickened Charlotte to the core. "And me?" she asked. They all looked at her. She glared at them, sarcasm heavy in her voice. "Am I to play a role in this madness?"

The false god grinned at her. "You have the most important role of all."

That did not reassure Charlotte at all. For the first time in her life, she prayed that her sister, friends, and students would get here in time to stop all this.

000{{*}}000

 **Hey, sorry about it being shorter than usual, but I promise the next one will be slightly longer. I hope you all enjoyed this.**


	27. Apocalypse: Chapter 26

**Well, here we are the next chapter. These last couple of days had been busy for me, so I am so happy to finally be able to post this latest chapter.**

Chapter 26

As Hank and Maurice flew them towards Cairo, the inside of the jet was filled with quiet tension. Wanda was sitting next to Peter, wishing that she could pick up and fiddle with her rose necklace, but it was tucked deep within her flight suit against her skin, so she made an attempt to try those meditative exercises Wong had tried to teach her. They eased some of her worry only slightly, but she could still feel everybody else's.

"Were you scared?" Jean asked Raven, breaking the long silence. "That day in D.C. were you scared?"

"No," the woman answered curtly. She didn't need to be Charlotte to sense the children's fear of the upcoming battle. That's what they were: children. Raven suddenly had an understanding as to why Charlotte hadn't restarted the X-men, but she knew that right now, these children needed her to help guide them in this fight. She looked at the children with a softness she hadn't shown to anyone in years.

"But I was scared on my first mission," she told them. They looked at her with the eyes of children at the thought of their hero ever being afraid. "I was on a plane like this with my friends. About your age. We called ourselves the X-men." A smile appeared on her face, remembering those times before it all went to hell. Charlotte, more hopeful and vibrant, Erik less broken, Raven herself more innocent, and all her friends there with them. She looked at Scott. "We used to call him Havok. He was a real handful, but when it came down to it, he was very brave."

Scott looked away from her, obviously thinking of his deceased brother.

"What happened to the rest of the kids who went with you? The X-men?" Kurt asked her.

Raven could see Hank looking down mournfully from his seat, and she remembered them as well. Alex, Sean, Angel, and Darwin. "Hank and I are the only ones left," she answered Kurt. "I couldn't save the rest of them. I told you I'm no hero." Heroes protected people, save them. She didn't.

"Well, you're a hero to us," Jean spoke next to her. "Seeing you that day on tv changed my life."

"Mine too," Wanda spoke up.

"Mine too," Kurt said as well.

"Mine too," Peter admitted.

Raven looked at them all amazed.

Peter chuckled. "I mean I still live in my mom's basement, but you know… everything else is… well, it's pretty much the same."

Everyone grinned in amusement. Wanda patted his knee. "I think we get the picture."

"Yeah, I'm a total loser," Peter said.

That drew a laugh from everyone, and the tension that had been hanging over them eased. A small smile appeared on Raven's face as she looked at the children sitting by her. She may not have been able to save everyone from the first team, but she would make certain everyone on this team survived, and that she would save Charlotte and Erik. It was more than a mission, more than a promise. It was a vow. Raven would never abandon a person in need ever again.

She would be the hero these kids believed her to be.

000{{*}}000

In Cairo, Erik levitated himself high in the air, creating a magnetic field around him as he felt and moved every piece of metal on the planet. He felt ships long sunk and forgotten deep in the oceans rise at his command. Shipyards moved, and bridges and skyscrapers crumbled everywhere throughout the world.

During all this, inside the pyramid, Charlotte was carried and placed on one of the altars En Sabah Nur had created by Angel. Charlotte wished she had her legs so that she would have been able to run and escape. Not that it would have work, but it would be more difficult for them to control her even without her powers.

She glared furiously at the false god, Apocalypse as he came closer to her. "You're just another false god," she told him. "And whoever's left to follow you when this all over, they will betray you again."

He shoved her down on the altar. She grunted painfully, but continued to scowl at him.

He manipulated the altar to cuff her hands, preventing any kind of escape for her. "You're wrong, Charlotte," he told her, his voice hissing smugly. "For the first time in a thousand lifetimes, I have you. For all my gifts, I have yet to possess the one I needed most. To be everywhere."

Horror filled Charlotte even further as she realized what he had planned to do.

He leaned down at her, grinning sickly at her. "To be everyone."

Charlotte's heart beated fast. For the hundredth time, she prayed for her friends and students to hurry quickly.

000{{*}}000

When they reached Cairo they found themselves in an apocalyptic world.

"Seventh wonder, twelve o'clock," Hank announced.

Raven got out of her seat and stood between him and Maurice. She saw metal debris floating around the Great Pyramids, and among the ruins of the once great city of Cairo stood a more modern but terrifying looking pyramid.

She heard Jean and Wanda gasp behind her.

"He has the Professor in the center of the pyramid," Wanda said.

Raven looked behind her and saw fear and worry in the two girls' expressions.

"He's going to transfer his consciousness into the Professor," Jean told her. "If he does that, he'll have the power to control every mind in the world."

A new urgency filled Raven, and she could see it in Hank as he piloted the jet closer to the pyramid where Charlotte was being held. When they went around the pyramid, they found something else.

"What the hell is that?" Maurice asked.

There was a giant sphere of metal, and Raven instantly knew the cause. "It's Erik."

At the sound of his name, Peter got out of his seat and was standing next to Raven, looking through the window faster than any of them could blink.

Raven looked behind her at the teenagers who looked at her expectantly. Raven was torn between saving her sister and trying to stop Erik. She knew everyone would be willing and able to help Charlotte while she was the only one who could get to Erik. A plan began to form in her head. "You guys help Nightcrawler get into the pyramid," she told them. "Get Charlotte. I'll take care of Erik."

"How are you gonna get through that?" Hank asked, motioning towards the magnetic field and all the floating debris.

Peter turned to her. "I can get you in there. I came here for him as well. Let me help you."

Raven nodded, accepting his offer before turning to the rest of the team. "The rest of you, get Charlotte on this plane and get out of here."

"We're not leaving without you!" Kurt protested.

"Don't worry," Peter assured him. "We'll catch up."

"Hold on," Hank told them. He landed the jet down where it was safe and close to them near the pyramid.

During all this, Wanda tried and failed not to feel the terror and death near her as she and her friends disembarked. She needed to focus on the here right now. The Professor was counting on them.

"Hank, you go with the kids. Maurice will be waiting on the plane," Raven told him as they made their way through the rubble.

"Wait," Scott stopped them.

"What?" Raven asked him.

Scott glanced at Jean, Wanda, and Kurt before looking back at her. "Not all of us can fully control our powers."

"Then don't," she told him. "You need to embrace them. We all do." She dropped her disguise, shifting into the true form of Mystique.

Hank smiled proudly at her.

She turned from them and Peter placed a hand on the back of her neck and the other around her wrist, and they were off. Carrying mystique, Peter was able to climb the floating debris of metal until they reached the top where they found Erik protected by a magnetic field. As Raven recovered from the trip, Peter looked upon his father as he orchestrated the chaos around them.

000{{*}}000

Wanda followed Hank with Scott, Jean, and Kurt until they came into view of the pyramid.

"There's an entrance. It's clear," Hank pointed out for them. No sooner had he said it, a boy with metal wings came flying at them. They'd been discovered.

"Kurt! Get in there!"

The blue boy disappeared just as Angel threw his metal feathers at them. Jean lifted debris and Wanda helped to shield them from the attack. The boy, Angel glanced behind back and saw Kurt at the pyramid's entrance. He turned from the intruders outside and went after Kurt.

"In the pyramid! Move!" Hank ordered. They all hurried but stopped when lighting struck in front of them.

A girl with white hair, Storm appeared before them, creating a windstorm before flinging a car next to her at them. Wanda, Jean, and Scott duck from it, but Hank caught it. Scott took his glasses off and fired his beams at the girl who ducked for cover. Hank threw the car back at her, but before it could land on her, a violet beam of energy cut it in half and a woman Psylocke landed on the ground.

"Split them up," she told Storm.

Storm rose from the ground. The teenagers and Hank ran for cover as she threw lightning at them. Wanda found herself running beside Scott, separated from Jean and Hank as Storm pursued them.

During all this, Charlotte fought her restraints as the gold energy from above came down, her fear growing as it came nearer.

Wanda gasped as she felt it, and she knew Jean could feel it as well.

They were running out of time.

Wanda let Jean guide Kurt to the Professor while she focused on helping Scott take Storm out.

000{{*}}000

Meanwhile, at the magnetic field, Peter struggled to break through it. He pushed and tried to vibrate through it, but no luck. It was too strong for him. He zipped back to Raven and reported so to her. "The magnetic field is too strong. I can't get us in there."

They couldn't fight their way in which meant Raven would have to try something else: talking. "Erik!"

It seemed to work.

Erik opened his eyes from the sound and turned his head. "Mystique?"

He looked so broken, more than Raven had ever seen since she'd known him. The loss of one's family could do that to a person, but Raven wasn't here to remind him of that. She was here to remind him that he wasn't alone. "I know you think you lost everything," she told him. _Magda and Nina._ "But you haven't. You have me. You have Charlotte," she paused, glancing at PEter beside her. Her nephew. Charlotte's son. Erik's son. She thought of him and her niece Lorna, safe in Westchester. "You have more family than you know," she continued. "You never had the chance to save your family before. But you do now. That's what I've come here to tell you."

Charlotte had taught her a long time ago that it wasn't just blood that made one's family, it was their ability to care. That's what made Raven and Charlotte sisters. That's what made their friends, including Erik family. Not only that, but Erik also had a family with Charlotte as well, one that needed him. Raven didn't know everything and even so, it wasn't her place to tell him.

Erik looked at Raven, one of his oldest friends, her words running through his mind. He looked at the white haired boy next to her, wondering what business he had in all this. "And you?"

Peter felt Magneto's eyes on him as well as Mystique's. This was it. The moment he had been waiting for for years. But when he opened his mouth to speak, the words wouldn't come out. "I'm your…" _Son._ he just had to say "son", but it couldn't come out. He looked upon Magneto and saw the grief and pain in his eyes, still fresh from the loss of his wife and daughter. Peter couldn't do it. He couldn't tell him. Not yet. Not while he was mourning the loss of the family he had known, and didn't care if the world around him ended.

"I'm here for my family too," he ended up saying to Magneto. They weren't the words he had planned to say, but they were the truth. He was there for his birth parents, his aunt, the little sister he discovered that he had, and all the new friends he had just made.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte struggled as she felt the gold energy connecting her mind with En Sabah Nur's. She could feel Jean and Wanda's presence in her mind, encouraging her to keep fighting and that help was coming. The altar she was on lifted, and she fought with all her might as she felt Apocalypse's conscious invade her mind. It burned through her skull and she thrashed wildly. "Get out! Get out!"

Jean and Wanda both grimaced as they felt the Professor's pain and distress.

 _We're losing her._

 _Kurt, hurry!_ Wanda sent urgently.

Charlotte could feel herself fading and then darkness.

Kurt found the Professor after dealing with Angel the moment she lost consciousness, and he grabbed her, transporting her out of the pyramid and onto the jet.

Jean and Wanda both breathed in relief.

Wanda then focused on helping Scott take care of Storm. Scott fired his beams at the girl while she threw lightning at him. Wanda could feel her powers, and was able to deflect the lightning bolts back at the girl, zapping her far away from them.

Kurt suddenly appeared next to them. "Scott, Wanda, time to go!" He grabbed them and transported them back to the jet.

Wanda noticed Jean holding the Professor in her lap and quickly went over to them. The Professor was bleeding from the temple. Wanda brought the first aid kit in the jet to her and began to dab the wound, remembering her lessons on medicine her parents had taught her.

Kurt returned with Hank, and the man hurried to the pilot's seat where Maurice was. "Let's go!"

They began to fire the jet's engines, Wanda continuing to treat the Professor's wound while Jean held her. The girls both gasped as they felt Apocalypse's rage when he realized the transfer had been incompleted.

"We need to hurry," Jean told Hank and Maurice.

They rose to the air when all of a sudden they heard a thud on the roof of the jet.

"What the hell was that?" Maurice asked, alarmed.

Violet energy piercing into the back of the jet answered him. Alarms went off. They were going to crash!

Jean turned to Kurt. "everyone grab hold of Nightcrawler!"

"I've never done it with this many people," he told her, fear in his voice.

"You have to get us out of here," Wanda told him.

Hank and Maurice grabbed hold of Nightcrawler's tail, the boy grabbing on to the Professor while Jean, Wanda, and Scott held onto his arms.

The roof came down with Angel entering. Wanda manipulated the controls, aiming them to crash headfirst into the ground. The action caused Angel to be pushed back, and prevented Psylocke from coming in as well.

Kurt's form flickered as he struggled to transport them all out of the jet aimed to crash.

"Kurt hurry!" Jean's voice told him urgently.

"Kurt!" Wanda cried as she saw Angel getting up and lunging at them.

Then they all disappeared from the jet, finding themselves in an abandoned room in one of the buildings.

000{{*}}000

Raven, Peter, and Erik had all watched as the jet had lifted, and the attack that had caused it to crash down in a big burst of flames.

Terror filled Raven as she thought of her sister on that jet. "Charlotte."

Horror filled Peter as he thought of the mother he never got to meet again possibly dead.

Sadness filled Erik at the thought of losing another loved one.

000{{*}}000

In the abandoned building as everybody recovered from their transport, Kurt moaned in pain as he laid on the ground unconscious.

"Is he okay?" Scott asked worriedly as Hank checked him.

"It's his energy. He's drained," Jean answered him.

"No," Charlotte moaned in Wanda's arms. Everyone turned to her as the Professor began to wake up. "Get out," Charlotte began to thrash in Wanda's arms. "Get out! Get out!"

"Professor, it's okay. You're with us," Wanda soothed.

Charlotte opened her eyes, breathing heavily as she looked at all the friendly and concerned faces around her, not the menacing one that had just tried to kill her.

Wanda smiled softly at her. "It's okay."

Charlotte finally calm down, realizing that she was safe among friends.

000{{*}}000

Raven and Peter turned back to Magneto.

"I'm going to fight for what I have left," Raven told her former friend. "Are you?"

Erik looked at her with his sad and broken eyes while she turned away from, and the boy, Peter placed a hand on the back of her neck.

Before they took off however, he turned his head and looked at Erik. In his eyes Erik saw all kinds of emotions, but the most prominent ones were disappointment and sadness. In that moment, Erik felt as if Charlotte was looking at him with those same sapphire blue eyes the boy was staring at him with, cutting into him until he was exposed and vulnerable. Then the boy was gone, taking Raven with him, and leaving Erik alone again.

Memories flew in his head, taking him away from his present pain to before Magda and Nina, before Washington, before Cube. He was brought back to another time when he was lost and alone when a kind and beautiful professor first came into his life.

" _There's so much more to you than you know. Not just pain and anger. There's good too. I felt it." Her voice was so soothing like a balm to his aching soul. Her eyes showing a loving light in her eyes at him._

" _It's not just me you're walking away from," her voice betraying the disappointment she felt as they stood outside the CIA facility he had just tried to leave. "Here you have the chance to be part of something much bigger than yourself. And it needs you Erik." The belief and hope she had in him, causing him to stop. Watching as the Charlotte in his memories walked away from him._

A tear escaped Erik's eyes and fell down his face. _Charlotte._ No matter how hard he tried, Erik still loved her with all his soul. She was the first and only person to look deep inside him and see all of him. The good, the bad, and even the things Erik wanted nobody to see. No matter any of it, she had loved him and made him feel so much more than the monster he had seen himself as his entire life. No one, not even his wife Magda had looked into him like that and made him feel like that. Nobody, but Charlotte who had always believed him to be more than what he saw himself as.

He turned his head and watched as Apocalypse transported himself from the pyramid and into the ruined streets.

000{{*}}000

 _ **Charlotte.**_

Charlotte flinched, turning her eyes away from Hank who took care of the still unconscious Kurt.

 _ **I know you can hear me. We're still connected.**_

Charlotte closed her eyes of the horrible realization. She had to stay quiet or he would find them.

"Charlotte!"

Everybody looked with alarm as they heard the voice outside right next to the building they were hiding in.

"Show yourself! Charlotte!" he roared. "Show yourself!"

But Charlotte remained quiet, hidden from him.

000{{*}}000

Electric sparks came off a broken cable, flashing in slow motion along with Apocalypse as he looked around for the telepath.

Peter stepped in front of him and smirked before punching him square in the face. The false god was flung back, and Peter punched and kicked him around as if he were nothing but a bouncing ball for his amusement. This false god didn't seem so tough to Peter. He could take him out easily.

What Peter did not realize as he continued to beat up Apocalypse was that the false god was tracking his movements in superspeed. He watched the boy's legs running until he made the sands grab his ankle stopping him. "Foolish child."

Peter tried to pull out of the hold, grunting as he jerked his body around to free himself as the god approached him. Peter tried punching him again, but Apocalypse grabbed it in mid-punch. He twisted the arm, causing Peter to groan painfully. Then he kicked Peter's leg, breaking it with a sickening snap, and causing the boy to scream in such pain it struck into the hearts of everyone nearby.

Erik's magnetic field faltered as he heard him.

Wanda stumbled, nearly falling into Jean as she felt the boy's pain with such clarity she felt as if her own leg had snapped as well.

Charlotte felt as if somebody had stabbed her heart as she heard Peter's painful cries.

Peter had never been in such pain in his life. His leg hurt so badly he wanted it all to stop. He worried with this injury he wouldn't be able to run again, and that possibility was almost worse than the pain he was in. he felt Apocalypse grab his head, jerking him up painfully, and he saw Psylocke approaching him with a sword.

"End him," he heard Apocalypse.

Peter saw her twirl her sword, and he closed his eyes, his thoughts on his family, both birth and adopted.

He thought of his adopted mother who had tried to love and raise him as best as she could.

He thought of his sister, the one he had met at the school, but didn't get the chance to talk to, and the half-sister he didn't get the chance to meet at all.

He thought of his birth mother and the year dragging his feet before he finally had the guts to go and meet her, but was too late to.

Finally he thought of his father, and what a coward he was not to tell him that he was his son.

He waited for the blow to finish him off, but it didn't come.

Instead, when Psylocke swung, she slashed the neck of en Sabah Nur.

000{{*}}000

 **Whew! I'm glad I got that done. Just another chapter or two for this fic. I can't say more because I got to run. Please enjoy and let me know what you all think.**


	28. Apocalypse: Chapter 27 (Updated)

**Here we are: the last chapter (at least for now). When the Dark Phoenix comes out, I promise you guys to continue this and hopefully give it the ending it and the Xavier/Lehnsherrs deserve. I want to thank you all so much for all the support you've given to me throughout this summer. I wouldn't have been able to do all this and so quickly without them. Thank you all so much!**

 **Edited: Just an end of credits scene that I've added towards the you all will enjoy it.**

Chapter 27

There was a long red gash across Apocalypse's throat that would have been fatal to any mortal. But Apocalypse was no mortal.

He grabbed Psylocke's throat, releasing Peter, but the poor boy couldn't go anywhere with his broken leg and the other still stuck in Apocalypse's trap. Apocalypse squeezed his grip around Psylocke's throat, and she choked, struggling to breath. The wound around Apocalypse's throat healed, and the woman's eyes grew wide with fear as he lifted her off the ground. Then her form shifted from Psylocke's and into the blue form of Mystique's.

"Raven!" Tears filled Charlotte's eyes as she felt her little sister Raven's pain.

Erik watched as Apocalypse held his old friend by her throat as she struggled to breath, and the boy injured at the god's feet.

"The great hero," Apocalypse sneered.

Hank couldn't stand leaving Raven at Apocalypse's mercy. He had to do something. "I'm going out there."

"I'm going with you," Scott moved to join him.

"No!" Charlotte's voice stopped them. Raven and Peter were already hurt because of her. She wouldn't let anyone else be hurt either. She moved to get up, and somehow carry herself outside. "It's me he wants."

"Charlotte, you can't give yourself up," Maurice told her. "If he had you, he had us all. The whole world."

"You are feeble," Apocalypse hissed at Mystique. "Just like the others."

He squeezed her neck tighter, and Raven choked. "Charlotte!" he roared. "Come! Rescue your weaklings! Give your life for theirs!"

It was torture.

Charlotte could feel Raven and Peter's pain and fear at the hands of this monster. "No," she sobbed. Why?! She felt so helpless. She could feel Raven fading, the connection between them beginning to break.

She got up, intending to go out and save her little sister and Peter when she suddenly stopped. Connection. It struck her. Everyone looked at her when she had suddenly stopped. "He was right. There is still some part of me connected to him," she told them. "I can get inside his head."

It was risky, but it could work.

Her friends still looked at her with worry.

"Charlotte! Will you do nothing?!" Apocalypse's voice could be heard from outside.

Determination filled Charlotte, and she laid back down. Closing her eyes, she delved into his mind.

"Thank you for letting me in."

She felt his surprise and curiosity as she molded their minds together. She glared at him with hatred she had never felt for anyone. "You want what I have? You want to feel what I feel?"

She grabbed his head and shared with him the burden she always carried. All their voices. All their pain. Ceasing to end. Charlotte had grown accustomed to bearing it all, but not Apocalypse. It all overwhelmed him, and he screamed in pain from it.

In the physical world he dropped Raven, and she fell to the ground unconscious but alive.

Charlotte released the false god and he breathed heavily.

"Welcome to my world!" Charlotte punched him, "You're in my house now!"

She hit him and punched him, unleashing all her anger and hatred at him with every blow. Until he caught her punch. He looked up at her, and Charlotte felt her fear returning.

"You'll need a bigger house," he hissed at her. He squeezed her hand painfully, causing Charlotte to cry out. Then it seemed he grew bigger while Charlotte grew smaller, until he was able to push her onto the ground.

000{{*}}000

Meanwhile in the physical world, as everyone watched Charlotte in worry as she struggled in pain, the walls that had been hiding them out of sight dissolved into sand that blew away. Everyone looked up in fear as their hiding spot was exposed to Apocalypse.

Inside Charlotte's mind, Apocalypse grabbed her with one hand and slammed her into her mental walls as if she were nothing but a doll.

In the physical world the team felt their fear growing as Apocalypse neared them. How could they fight him? Three of their teammates had already been taken out, and the Professor, one of the strongest mutants ever was struggling in her own battle against the god. How could they hope to fight him and win?

Apocalypse came nearer to them when all of a sudden a steel rod landed in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. Everyone looked on in surprise as another steel landed in front of him, forming an "X" before him. Everyone turned and looked up, and were amazed as they saw Magneto, all the metal debris he had been manipulating coming down.

Apocalypse glared at the man above him. "You betray me?"

"No. I betrayed them." For so long Erik had done so, ever since Cuba, but no more. It ended today. Summoning his power he felt all the metal around him rise to his command, and unleashed it all upon the false god.

Wanda couldn't believe it as she watched Magneto turn on Apocalypse and helped them. As Magneto poured all his metal onto Apocalypse, the god had turned his attention away from them as he pushed towards to Magneto. Hank turned to Wanda and Scott. "Let's jump!"

"What?" Scott asked, but Wanda followed him without question. Scott grabbed onto Hank as they jumped from the building, Wanda using her powers to safely land herself behind them.

"I'll get Raven. Wanda, you get Peter. Scott, cover us," he ordered. They all obeyed.

Wanda raced over to Peter. His right leg was in an awkward angle that it shouldn't have been in while his left ankle was still stuck in the trap.

"Come on!" Peter urgently told her.

Wanda didn't feel comfortable using her powers, but this wasn't the time for hesitation. Being careful as Scott unleashed his beams. He struggled to control them and aim them, nearly hitting Wanda, Peter, Hank, and Raven before he finally managed to aim them at Apocalypse. But the mistake had given away their element of surprise, causing the false got to notice them and direct the black smoke around him at them, nearly blinding them.

"They lack strength, Charlotte," Apocalypse hissed at her before flinging her across the hall. He was too strong. Charlotte couldn't beat him by herself. "Jean…" she gasped. She heard Apocalypse come from behind her.

"Come here." He grabbed her and threw her again. She landed on the ground with a painful thud. She couldn't keep fighting him like this. Not by herself. She reached out towards the mind of Jean's whom she felt near her own. "Help… me."

Wanda wrapped one of Peter's arms around her shoulders and carried him while Hank carried Raven, and together brought them behind one of the walls that was still intact. They should be safe there for now. Wanda carefully sat Peter down against it while Hank placed Raven next to him as she started to regain consciousness.

"Stay here," he told them. Then he and Wanda ran back to help Scott and Erik. Both men were beginning to struggle as they poured everything they had onto Apocalypse, but it wasn't enough.

"Jean, help me!" Charlotte begged. She could feel the girl's fear and hesitation of her own powers before Apocalypse ram his fist into her back.

Wanda and Hank stopped as they saw Apocalypse take on everything Scott and Magneto threw at them. Hank turned to the young woman next to him. "I'll take him from behind, you take him in the right."

"But-" Wanda had never unleashed her power like that. If she did, she didn't know what could happen.

"Wanda." Hank saw the fear in her eyes, but they needed to do this. "It's okay. Just let him have it."

She still wasn't sure, but she nodded. They took off. Once Wanda was near enough, she focused and aimed all the scarlet energy she felt within her at Apocalypse. It hit his shield that seemed to surround him, but it didn't faze him. She continued to pour it onto him as Hank snuck from behind him and jump, but the false god threw him into a car like he was nothing but a fly.

Wanda watched in horror as Scott's energy ran out and he was forced to cover his eyes again before Apocalypse swatted him as well. Scott landed hard against stone wall, and Apocalypse forced it to entrap him in it.

It was just Wanda and Magneto against him now. Wanda could see even from this distance the strain in the older man as he poured all his metal onto the god-like mutant. She could feel her own fear as she fought Apocalypse, rendering her powers useless as he turned towards the building where the Professor was and where Wanda was standing guard. She poured everything into her powers, doing everything she could to prevent him from coming closer, but it was for naught. She felt her boots pushing into the ground as he came nearer towards the building.

"It's over, Charlotte. You're finished," he sneered into Charlotte's ear as he held her down. "You're mine now."

"You… will never win," she told him.

"And why is that?" he asked her.

"Because you are all alone...and I am not!" She grinned through the pain as she felt another presence enter their minds.

Jean.

"Let...go," she whispered in Jean's mind. "Unleash your power, Jean. No fear."

Jean came into Apocalypse's mind at the same time she walked closer to the battle. The fear that had held her at bay for so long ebb away until it was gone, and there was nothing but her, the Professor, and Apocalypse. The power that had been hidden all this time surfaced, and gave her the strength she needed to face Apocalypse.

"Unleash your power!" Charlotte's voice encouraged her to do what she needed to do. "Let go, Jean! Jean, let go!"

And it was unleashed.

Like a burning phoenix, all the power Jean had been hiding for so long rose out from the shadows and was unleashed upon Apocalypse. It tore him out of the Professor's mind. It ripped his shields and all his armor. Jean's attack allowed Wanda to regain her focus, and therefore allow her own power to grow stronger, the scarlet energy burning into him as well as the power from the Phoenix force.

Hank regained consciousness and saw Scott trapped inside the wall next to him. He punched the wall until he was able to free Scott, and the boy wasted no more time in unleashing the beams from his eyes and unto Apocalypse. Magneto threw metal into the god, piercing him and entrapping him. Purple energy surrounded Apocalypse.

"He's getting away," Hank realized. But not for long.

Lightning struck the orb surrounding Apocalypse, creating holes until it was gone. Storm.

Apocalypse's skin was beginning to dissolve, but his eyes were on Jean Grey and the Phoenix force radiating off her. One last evil smile appeared on his lips. "All is reveal."

The Phoenix roared at him, incinerating his skin, muscle, and bone until he was nothing but dust. When the dust settled, the heroes stopped. Magneto and Storm floated back to the ground, and shared a respective nod. Wanda finally relaxed when she saw that the danger was over, and ran back to where she and Hank had left Peter and Raven. Scott grabbed hold of Hank and the two men jumped back to the floor where the rest of their team was.

They all saw Maurice doing compressions on Charlotte's heart. "Charlotte? Charlotte!" he called in alarm.

Hank raced to Charlotte's side. She wasn't responding or even breathing.

"We've lost her. She's gone," Maurice's voice held a sad desperation.

"Charlotte," Hank whispered. His best friend couldn't be gone, not after all they had been through, and all they had yet to accomplish.

"No, she's not," Jean's voice broke through their mournful thoughts. They looked up at her as she approached them. "I can still feel her."

She kneeled before Charlotte and placed a hand on her cheek before closing her eyes. Charlotte's breathing returned, and she slowly opened her eyes much to everyone's amazement. A smile appeared on Charlotte's face. "Thank you, Jean."

A smile appeared on the young girl's face as well.

"Charlotte?" Maurice asked, his voice still laced with concern. "Charlotte, do you know where you are?"

Charlotte's eyes looked at all the familiar and friendly faces of people she loved and cared for. "I'm on a beach," she answered.

Maurice looked at her confused, but Hank in understanding.

Charlotte looked at Maurice. "In Cuba. With you."

"What beach?" he asked her.

Charlotte didn't say anything. She held her hand at the side of his face, and revealed all the memories she had hidden from him.

 _Meeting at a London pub. "Charlotte Xavier."_

 _Working together to find Shaw, to train mutants, and to stop a nuclear war._

 _Him holding her as she bled on the Cuban sand after Erik and Raven had abandoned her._

 _Those weeks of helping her recover._

 _And finally, a kiss that had ended it all for them._

A tear escaped Maurice's eye without him being aware of it, as did a couple from Charlotte's. He looked at her in astonishment as he remembered everything.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, guilt shining in her eyes. "I should never have taken those from you."

He smiled at her in sad understanding.

"Hold on!" Kurt screamed, abruptly waking up, and startling everyone. As he calmed down, he looked around. "What did I miss?"

Everyone laughed while Charlotte just smiled. They had won. No easy battle, but they had stopped Apocalypse from destroying the world. Much destruction had been caused, but from the ashes they would rebuild a better and brighter future.

000{{*}}000

The students at Westchester had taken shelter at the home of a kind woman who lived near the edge of the school property. While Hank and Charlotte checked up on them, Erik, Jean, and Wanda all set to work in rebuilding the mansion back to the way it was.

As Wanda stood next to Jean and helped her with the reconstruction, she felt a pair of eyes on her. Not from any of the students, but someone else's. She turned her head and saw Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr turn his head, his eyes on her as he helped her and Jean rebuild their school and home. Wanda didn't feel ready to trust him yet, even though she was grateful that he had helped them defeat Apocalypse and was now helping them rebuild her school. The way he was looking at her… it was as if he were trying to solve a puzzle, as if he should know her somehow. If Wanda was being honest, she too felt that she should know him. Not because she had seen him on the news, but because she felt as if she had seen him somewhere before. She couldn't understand why.

Erik didn't make it a habit to stare at people, but there was something about the girl (Wanda, he had heard her friends call her) with her cheekbones, the shape of her eyes, and her auburn looks that made him think of his mother and sister. But that was impossible. Just his mind playing tricks on him.

Both Wanda and Erik took their eyes off one another and focused their attention on their construction work. Erik fitted the pipes, Jean brought the wood and stone together, and Wanda salvaged the ashes that had been destroyed in the explosion back to their original forms and returned them to their rightful owners.

During all this, Peter watched. His entire leg had been placed in a cast that everyone had signed and colored already. He hated not being able to run for a while, but thanks to his accelerated healing it shouldn't be a problem for so long. His gaze was entirely focused on Erik as he helped to rebuild the mansion, he didn't even notice Storm, Ororo standing next to him until she spoke. "Mystique told me he and the Professor are your parents. Are you going to tell them?"

He shouldn't have been so surprised, and he surprisingly wasn't. He had been thinking about it these last couple of days since Cairo. Erik Lehnsherr, Magneto, his father had had family these last ten years, and he lost them. Peter knew the depth of loss Erik must have been feeling at the loss of his wife and daughter. He had obviously loved them deeply. Peter had no desire to reveal himself and make Erik believe he was trying to replace his little girl. Peter wasn't that selfish. Not yet.

"Might," he admitted to Ororo. "One day. For now I'm just going to stick around here for a while."

He may not have been selfish enough to reveal himself to his father yet, but he was to reveal himself to his mother. Throughout his searches, he had learned so much about her, and given recent events in how close he had been to losing her, he was ready to meet her. Well, that and since his newfound aunt was a chatterbox, he wanted to be the one to reveal himself to her.

000{{*}}000

Charlotte was in her newly rebuilt office, staring at the sonogram of her twins. Wanda, bless the girl had been able to restore it from the ashes, along with many other personal belongings the students had lost in the explosion. This picture of her unborn twins was the only thing she had of them. Sonograms had just been invented in the sixties, and Hank being the clever genius that he is, built one so they could see the babies she was carrying. It had been one of the happiest moments in Charlotte's life, seeing those tiny shapes that were her babies, and hearing their heartbeats.

It had been a while since Charlotte had dwelled on the pain she still felt from the loss of them. This whole event of dealing with Apocalypse had reopened wounds she thought had been long healed. She loved Lorna, her precious daughter more than anything and was grateful to have her every second of her life, but she couldn't take the all the pain away or replace the twins. Maybe that's why Charlotte was unable to tell Erik about Lorna. He had already lost one child, and Charlotte would never ever want him to feel that Lorna could replace Nina. She had seen his memories of his little girl, and it had brought her to tears when she had seen the resemblance between Nina and her own little girl Lorna. It was just enough for anyone to see that the two of them were sisters. That's why Charlotte couldn't tell Erik about Lorna or their twins.

A knock on her door interrupted her musings. She quickly hid the sonogram in her desk along with the picture of her and Lorna incase it was Erik. "Come in."

It wasn't him. She relaxed. It was Raven and Peter.

Her sister strode in purposefully while the boy still limped with his crutches. He seemed nervous for some reason.

"Raven, Peter, is everything alright?" she asked.

"Peter had something to tell you," came her sister's response.

Charlotte turned her gaze to Peter. He shifted uncomfortably, his eyes glancing at Raven before landing on Charlotte. The Professor had a hard time reading his thoughts, his mind thinking too fast for her to even snatch a word, but for the most part, she could see how uncomfortable he was to speak to her in front of Raven.

Charlotte tried to ease him. "Um, Raven, could you…?" she asked.

Raven nodded. "Of course." She turned to leave, but before she did, she placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezed, and sent him an encouraging look. Charlotte did not peak into her sister's thoughts, even though the temptation was great. What was going on?

When Raven shut the door, Charlotte immediately told Peter to sit down because of his cast. "How's your leg?" she asked.

"Um… pretty good now, actually. I told Hank that it would be fine in a couple of weeks, and I've begged him and begged him to take it off because I'm totally better now, and wearing it is like totally itchy and I can't take it anymore, and also it's boring not being able to run and all, and because I have fast metabolism I don't need to wear it anymore, and-" he was rambling, quite nervously.

Charlotte gently stopped him. "Peter."

"Right, sorry," he grinned sheepishly.

She smiled at him. "It's okay. What is it you wanted to tell me?"

Peter shifted uncomfortably again and was quiet which kind of made Charlotte nervous a bit.

"Um…" Peter finally spoke. "Does June 19th, 1963 hold any significance to you?"

Charlotte felt her entire body freeze when she heard and remembered that date. It had been the best and worst day of her life. "Why do you ask?" her voice spoke in a strain whisper.

Worry and hesitation showed in Peter, but somehow the boy continued on despite that. "That day you gave birth prematurely to a small boy in the Wundagore Mountains in Transia with help the help of a cow lady who was the midwife, and then you lost him in a fire."

The gears in her head turned as she began to make sense of all this.

"That was me," Peter finished.

All the blood in her head seemed to drop. It couldn't be, and yet it made all the sense in the world. Looking at him now, she felt as if a younger and more innocent Erik was looking at her. Even though his hair was a silvery white it laid just like Erik's use to when she first met him, the nervous way he looked at her when Erik felt that Charlotte was too close for comfort, and the way his lips frowned and smiled at her. Even though Charlotte could see some parts of herself in Peter, to her he was mostly Erik, his father.

Tears trailed down her face and a hand covered her mouth as a sob escaped her. "Peter."

Tears shown in Peter's eyes as well as he looked upon his mother. "I'm your son."

Another sob escaped Charlotte. Her son. She brought her chair out from behind her desk and rolled it until she was in front of him. "Can I…" she hesitated, not wanting to scare him. "Can I hug you?"

A tearful smile appeared on Peter's face before he wrapped his arms with such force around her he nearly knocked them down, but neither of them cared at this moment.

Her son. He was alive. He came back to her. Charlotte held her arms tight around him. She still couldn't properly hear his thoughts, but she felt the one constant thing emanating off him: happiness.

Peter couldn't believe this was happening. He may not have found the courage to reveal himself to his father, but being wrapped in his mother's arms he felt warm, safe, loved, and something else he had never felt in a long time: belonging.

As both mother and son held each other, reunited, Raven smiled outside the office.

000{{*}}000

Erik stood next to Charlotte as they looked at the children inside the Danger Room for the first training session.

After being reunited with her son, Charlotte and Peter had talked for hours in her office, catching up on all the years they had missed together. Peter had no wish to reveal himself to his father as he had done for his mother yet, and that was a decision Charlotte respected. Peter was a grown man capable of his own decisions, and neither she nor Erik had any right towards his decisions. Charlotte felt guilty keeping such a secret from Erik, but it was for the best.

Erik looked on as Raven and Hank prepared the X-men as they were calling themselves. He had heard that each of them had taken up names. Nightcrawler, Storm, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver. It was kind of amusing to Erik, reminding him of the first mutants they had trained and how he had ended up with the name Magneto. However, as he watched them, a sense of foreboding filled him. Humans still feared mutants and there would always be a need for the X-men.

"The world has already begun rebuilding its arsenals," Charlotte spoke from beside him.

"It's human nature, Charlotte," he said to her.

"I still have hope," she replied to him.

Erik snorted. Dear Charlotte, always the same. "Oh, yes. Hope."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him. "I was right about Raven," she told him. "I was even right about you."

He looked at her, and Charlotte smiled softly at him.

"What about the rest of the world?" he asked her, turning around fully to face her. "Doesn't it ever wake you up in the middle of the night? The feeling that one day they'll come for you… and your children?"

Every night. Ever since she found out she was pregnant with Lorna. Ever since she decided to reopen the school.

She met Erik's gaze. "It does indeed," her voice soft with sincerity.

"What do you do when you wake up to that?" he asked her.

"I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul that comes to my school looking for trouble."

As he looked into her blue eyes that had become as deadly as ice, Erik felt the same. Charlotte Xavier had changed more than he thought. While her eyes still held the kind patience within them, there was a protective determination in them as well, and a deadly lioness who would protect her cubs. Yes, heaven and hell help the poor soul who dared to harm any of Charlotte Xavier's children.

The corner of Erik's mouth tilted upwards, not quite a smile, but the action said more than words.

They both stared at each other intently, like the night when they first made love and whispered their feelings to each other for the first and only time.

Charlotte closed her eyes. "You sure I can't convince you to stay?"

Erik grinned teasingly. "You're psychic, Charlotte. You can convince me to do anything." He patted her shoulder, and walked away. Away from the students, and away from her.

Despite this, Charlotte smiled. "Goodbye, old friend."

Erik smiled too. "Good luck, Professor."

And he was gone.

Charlotte loved him, but she had learned the hard way that to love someone , you had to let them go.

She turned her attention back to her students as her sister began their training.

"Forget everything you think you know. Whatever lessons you learned in school, whatever your parents taught you. None of that matters. You're not kids anymore. You're not students. You're X-men."

Raven nodded towards Hank and he turned on the simulation.

The newly made X-men all turned around as the lights lowered and the doors behind them opened.

Quicksilver put on his goggles.

Lightning crackled in Storm's hands.

Nightcrawler growled, revealing his teeth as he prepared to battle.

Energy glowed in the hands of the Scarlet Witch.

Cyclops' new vizor glowed red as he turned it on.

Marvel Girl felt the enemy come towards them.

Six machines of the newly programmed Sentinels came into the Danger Room, and the training began. Charlotte watched until the doors closed.

She had her son back. Her son and her daughter Lorna, two of her children, but there was one still missing. She and Peter would have to look for her, but not alone. One day they would all find her. One day Charlotte would tell Erik about all three of their children. Until those days came, Charlotte would protect the mutants and the humans of the world with the aid of her X-men.

000{{*}}000

Erik was on his way to the front door of the Xavier mansion, his mind still on Charlotte and how she had changed over the years. From the naive and compassionate girl he had met all those years ago to the bitter and angry woman he saw ten years later to the strong and resilient woman he now knew. Seeing her again after all these years felt like a balm soothing his aching soul, especially given his most recent loss.

 _Nina. Magda._

The pain was still so fresh. He couldn't mourn forever. Nina, Magda, and Charlotte had all shown him that despite all the horrors in the world there was a way to have peace and that is where he would start.

He had made it to the entryway when he saw a flash of bright green from the corner of his eye. Not only that, but he felt a magnetic pulse. One that felt living and similar to his own.

How was that possible?

He got his answer when he saw a little girl sitting in the stairway across from the front door with hair the brightest emerald he had ever seen and floating pieces of metal shifting in her hands. The metal shifted in liquid form, twisting into knots before it was smoothed over.

Erik couldn't believe it.

Over the years he had met all different kinds of mutants with unique powers, but never had he met one with powers similar to his own. He watched as the young mutant tried to shape the metal in her hands, a look of concentration on her face, before it grimaced in frustration.

Erik tried not to laugh in amusement, even as he felt a twinge in his heart. It almost felt like he was seeing Nina while she struggled on a homework assignment. "What are you working on?" He found himself asking the little girl. He couldn't remember her name.

Lorna was surprised when the metal man spoke to her. Her mother and newfound aunt called him Erik while her Uncle Hank called him Magneto. She had been curious about him since he came to the mansion and helped rebuild it, but after that he always seemed to be hiding from everyone. Lorna couldn't go looking for him because she was busy with helping Uncle Hank build the danger room. Now that he was busy helping to train the X-men, Lorna now had free time. She decided to work on her latest project: making a necklace, but it was so complicated. The chain required a lot of tiny loops and she wanted it to be perfect like those fancy necklaces her grandmother use to wear, but it was hard.

She looked up at the man and the metal dropped into her hand. "I'm trying to make a necklace, but I keep messing up the chain," she explained to him.

"You're focusing too much on detail," Erik told her. He knelt down and placed his hands under hers. "Close your eyes."

The green hair girl followed his instructions.

"Feel the metal in your hands. Don't overcomplicate it."

Lorna listened as the man instructed her how to make a necklace. She could feel the metal looping into a long chain, the metal connecting until it fell into her hands. She opened her eyes and sure enough a simple, yet elegant chain laid in her palms. She looked up at the man, a bright smile on her face. "Thank you so much!"

Erik found himself smiling as well. This girl was so happy with what she had been able to make with his help. Her happiness and innocence reminded him so much of Nina, and yet.. She was different from her as well.

"You're welcome." He got up, but stopped when the little girl frowned.

"Are you leaving?" Lorna didn't want him to go.

"I'm only a guest here," Erik explained to her, not sure why he felt guilty all of a sudden.

The little girl stood up and stared up at him with her green eyes. "Will you come back to visit?"

Will he? Erik didn't know. The only ones he could see being happy about his visits would be Charlotte and Raven, but Erik didn't see himself coming back anytime soon after all he had done to them.

When the man didn't answer her, Lorna pulled out another piece of metal from her pocket. Concentrating, she made it shift until it was a charm connected with the chain she just made and held it out to him. "You have it."

Erik was surprised. "Are you sure? You worked very hard on it."

"I want you to have it," the girl insisted.

Erik took the necklace in his hands and studied the charm. On it was a big X, but when he flipped it, he found a small L on it. He looked back at the girl, and a blush covered her cheeks, giving him the sense of dejavu.

"It's my signature for Lorna. I make all the jewelry here in school, and my Mommy said that an artist signs her work."

"Your Mommy is a smart woman," Erik said to her. His mind went back to all those bracelets and rings he saw on Charlotte with the letter L, and he nearly laughed.

"In that case, how can I refuse?" He placed it around his neck where it clinked with Nina's locket.

Lorna smiled at him, and Erik couldn't help the familiar aching that he had seen that smile somewhere before. No matter, he had to leave now, or he never would, and what good would that bring?

"Thank you for the gift, Lorna." With that he turned to leave.

"You'll never forget us, will you?" Lorna's voice stopped him.

He turned to look at her, and there it was again. That familiar ache he couldn't describe. This young mutant girl with her jaded hair, and her ability to manipulate metal just like him that carried a light and innocence that had to be protected like so many other mutant children.

"Never," he promised her before he left Xavier's school.

He may have failed to protect his Magda and Nina, but he would not fail his mutant brothers and sisters again.

000{{*}}000

 **Sorry to be leaving you guys with such a cliffhanger. I'm hoping that when the Dark Phoenix comes out, Peter will reveal himself to Erik, and maybe we'll finally give them the ending they deserve. Thank you all so much for all your support. I'm going to continue with my Silver, Scarlet, and Jade that feature one-shots of Charlotte, Erik, and their friends and loved ones over the years. I hope you all will enjoy it. Once again, thank you all for your support.**

 **Edited: I had originally planned on doing this scene when I first published it, but at the time my life had been so chaotic and I forgot to add this scene while I was writing this chapter. I know a lot of you had been upset that I didn't bring Lorna in the end and I felt bad about it. However, thanks to the new trailers of Dark Phoenix some of my inspiration has come back. I'm so excited and nervous about what this could mean for our Xavier-Lensherr family. Hopefully, if it's a bad ending, I can fix it to give us some kind of happy ending. In the meantime, I've been thinking about doing the original films before X-Men: Days of Future Past. Wish me luck.**


	29. Origins: Chapter 28

**Hey guys, thanks for the wait. I'm thinking that until Dark Phoenix comes out I'll do a Charlotte/Erik fic in the original X-men movies and see how well I do. Thank you so much for your support. The followers and favors have encouraged me so much, and the reviews definitely. Thank you all so much. I hope you all will enjoy this chapter.**

 **Warning: young children being exposed to violence.**

Chapter 28

" _Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."_

000{{*}}000

Washington D.C., 1971

Peter Maximoff hated prisons!

The concrete walls seemed to enforce the idea that anyone inside them was trapped and never coming out except through a steel bar door. To Peter it felt like he was suffocating, and he wasn't even an inmate. No, the reason he was here was because he wanted to see his dad.

Ever since his father had been sent to prison months ago his mother had refused to let him come visit. However, Peter was more stubborn and persistent than she thought, and had snuck out all the way to be here to see his dad.

They had been in America since Peter had been a year old, and being immigrants in a strange country, they had struggled to find decent jobs to support their little family. They would have managed if Peter's mom hadn't fallen pregnant with his little sister, Ana. Their jobs didn't provide enough to keep a roof over their heads, feed, and clothe a growing six-year-old boy and a newborn baby girl. So Peter's father Django Maximoff had been forced to steal to ensure their survival. It was little things at first: loaves of bread, jugs of milk, and jars of baby food. Then they needed to buy clothing for Peter and his growing sister which lead to picking pockets and snatching wallets. Then the rent for their small apartment went up, and now Django had to steal bigger and more expensive items. He met these people who sold expensive items in the black market for a lot of cash, then Django Maximoff found himself breaking and stealing from people's homes. He never stole from people who were struggling like his family. Only those whom he knew could afford to lose a few gems, some appliances, and maybe an automobile.

This went on for two years until Django broke his promise to his wife, and that was involving their eight-year-old son in his criminal life. Django had needed Peter to help with an opening he was too big to get into on his own. Peter was more than willing to help his father, and the plan would have gone off without a hitch if the neighbors hadn't seen them and called the cops. Django would have probably gotten only a few years for the thefts he committed if the night hadn't gone the way it did.

Peter and Django had been gathering the last of the stuff into their bags in one of the upstairs bedrooms when a police officer came up and pointed a gun at them. Peter didn't know how it had happened. He remembered seeing the gun pointed at his dad, and in the next moment he was rushing over to the police officer to stop him. He had only meant to knock the gun out of the officer's hands, but instead he slammed into the officer's stomach so hard he pushed him out of the room, into the hallway, and down the stairs. It all happened so fast, Peter was barely able to grab onto the railing to keep himself from falling down too, but he watched as the officer fell down, hearing the sickening snap of his bones breaking. He barely made it back into the bedroom to see his father's shocked face before the police officer's backup swarm in and cuffed them.

The police officer survived the fall but barely. His left arm had been broken in several places along with both of his legs, and his right arm out of place. The officer had suffered internal injuries as well, but the severity of them had puzzled everyone. The doctors said that it was as if he had been hit with the force of a fast moving car. Since the officer had little recollection as to what had happened, everyone automatically assumed Django Maximoff, a grown man had attacked him. After all, how could a little boy as small as Peter was with little muscle on him harm a police officer to such severity? Peter tried to defend his father, but nobody believed him. He tried to explain what had happened, but he couldn't repeat whatever he had done that night. And now, his father would be spending fifteen years in prison because of him.

Peter heard the door open and stood up. "Dad!"

His dad wore an ugly orange prison uniform, and his hands were cuffed, but it was his dad! Peter ran over to hug his dad when the guard who had escorted his father in stopped Peter.

"Sorry. No physical contact," the guard told him.

What? All Peter wanted was to hug his father.

His father seemed sad too, but he covered it up as best as he could. He motioned to the table and seats beside them, so they sat down.

Peter looked at his father as the man sat down. Django's dark Roma hair had grown longer, and his beard had grown more too, but he looked tired and more worn out than Peter had ever seen him.

"Peter, how did you get here?" his father asked him.

"I snuck out and ran. Mom wouldn't let me see you. I hate her!" Peter's mother had refused to believe him, and wouldn't let him tell the police what had really happened that night. Now, she was keeping him from the father he loved more than anything.

"No, Peter," Django spoke gently to him. "Don't say things like that. It's not your mother who doesn't want you to come here. I… don't want you to come here."

What? Peter stared at him incredulously.

Django motioned to his cuffed hands. "I don't want you to see me like this."

Peter felt tears stinging his eyes. Although his father stole, he would never hurt anyone. He didn't deserve this. This was Peter's fault!

He stood up and faced the guard standing next to them. "You have to let him go! My dad didn't do it. He didn't hurt that officer. I did! It was an accident! It's my fault! Not my dad's!"

"PIETRO!" his dad's voice broke him from his rant. "Look at me."

He did, and as he looked at his father with his big blue eyes, he saw sad resignation and love in his father's dark ones.

"You can't help me, Son," he softly told Peter. He took Peter's arm and pulled him closer, lowering his voice. "I don't want you to tell anyone about that night. Not the police, not your mother, no one."

Peter couldn't believe it. His father didn't want him to tell the truth that could get him out of prison sooner? "But-"

"Promise me, Pietro," the use of his Roma name showed how serious his father was.

Peter didn't understand why his father wanted him to keep quiet about that night so badly, but he nodded.

His father's shoulders relaxed from their tensed state. "Good. Now, your mother is going to look after you until I can get out of here. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made. I want you to be the good boy I know you are."

Peter felt tears in his eyes, and he tried to hold them in.

His father smiled sadly at him. "At home, under mine and your mother's bed is a shoebox with something that I want you to have, okay?"

Peter nodded as he took a shaking breath.

His father squeezed his hand. "No matter what happens Peter, know that every second you've been in my life has been a blessing more than I deserve. You're my special boy, and one day everyone else will know it. I love you and I'm proud of you."

By now, tears were freely falling down Peter's face. He flung his arms around his dad and hugged him, not caring about the rules. His father returned the hug and held him close. For the first time since that horrible night, Peter felt safe in his father's arms.

All too soon, his father was taken away, and the guard began to take him away.

"Dad? Dad!" Peter called, but his father didn't look back as he was taken away, leaving Peter alone with his tears.

Peter woke up and sat up in his bed. It had been several months since that visit with his father that turned out to be the last he ever saw of him.

Shortly after his visit, the war in Vietnam got worse and they began to enlist prison inmates. Peter's father was given the choice to serve out his fifteen year in prison or go to Vietnam. A few months after he was deployed, Django Maximoff was killed in an ambush.

Peter got out of his bed. Bending down, he took out the shoebox his father told him about. Inside it were papers that must have been important to Peter's parents along with photos of Peter with his parents and newborn sister, and a very old photo of Django's younger sister, Natalya who died around the time Peter had been born. However, the thing that Peter was searching for was deep in the box under everything he had hidden. The gleam of metal showed in the dark and Peter lifted it into his hands. The Star of David. Peter didn't know why his father had it since nobody in their family was Jewish, but for some reason Peter felt more connected with it than anything. He put it around his neck and walked out of his room until he was in his front yard.

The sun was beginning to rise, signaling a new day.

It was the same every day!

Go to school, deal with kids who made fun of his Roma heritage, his looks, and his dad, get beat up for fighting, get in trouble, go home to a drunken mother and baby sister who depended on him, and start all over.

Peter missed his dad and hated his mother. He didn't belong here.

He began to run, not sure where he was going. Maybe if he kept running he could fly, or maybe get away from this life he was forced to be in. Either way, Peter kept running, enjoying the wind on his face, the exhilaration flowing in his veins, and the feel of freedom. Maybe this is why Dad chose to go to Vietnam where death was a high possibility instead of being caged in prison for many years. This feel of freedom was powerful, and Peter didn't want anyone to take it from him, so he kept running.

Kept running.

Peter didn't feel tired at all or even a stitch in his side. Nothing but the wind in his face until he realized something: as he continued to run the area around him began to blur to the point he could barely make out the shapes of buildings.

He stopped, and skidded before falling on his side. Peter grimaced, shakily getting up as pain went through his whole left side. Brushing himself off, he looked around and realized he was on the highway, and not only that, but all the cars on it seemed not to be moving. Peter looked around in the vehicles. People who were in the middle of drinking coffee or eating doughnuts were frozen, not moving, and one guy seemed to be in the middle of singing something on the radio. Peter giggled at the funny expression on the man's face before moving on.

What was going on? Where was he? Peter looked around for signs before he found one.

New York: 20 miles.

Peter's eyes widened. New York?! How did he get all the way here? How was he going to get back to Washington? His mom was going to kill him!

Peter looked around. Maybe someone could give him a lift back home. He went over to a truck where a man was driving.

"Excuse me, but… uh… could you give me a lift?"

Nothing. The man was frozen. Peter tapped him. No response. Maybe he could retrace his steps, but how?

Peter ran again, and he watched as everything blurred again while he ran. Wow! He was running really fast! So fast that he didn't see that he was in a city, and that he was about to run into the laundry truck that was loading up. Peter tried stopping himself, but it was too late. He ram into all the bundles of laundry, finally stopping. Feathers flew from the pillows he busted, and Peter sneezed as he sat up.

"Whoa! Kid are you alright!" the laundry man asked, astonished by how this kid appeared out of nowhere.

Peter sat up. The laundry softened his crash and the man was talking in normal speed for him.

"Awesome!" Peter whispered in awe.

000{{*}}000

New york, 1973

Wanda was excited.

Today, her fourth grade class was going to the zoo. Her mom, Christine had been excited for her too, driving her to school, and telling her to have fun. Her dad, Stephen was excited for her too. He gave her money to buy peanuts and maybe a gift at the zoo, a hug, and told her to be safe.

Now, Wanda was having fun exploring the zoo with her friends Jean and Annie. The fall leaves were coming down, and a cool breeze flowed throughout the zoo, making Wanda glad she had her favorite scarlet jacket on. They went to see the elephants, the giraffes, the birdhouse, and tigers which Wanda loved. Annie bought birdseed to feed the birds, and Wanda giggled as the parakeets ate out of her hands. Wanda couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun.

Then the teacher took them over to the exhibit where the monkeys were. They were so cute! Their little fluffy brown bodies swinging from branch to branch without a care in the world.

"Hey! Wicked Wanda it's your friends!" Dylan, the mean boy who bullied Wanda, Jean, and Annie on a daily basis.

"Yeah, all that's missing are their wings!" And Vanessa, the girl who painted Wanda's face green like the Wicked Witch of the West during naptime in preschool which lead to her being called Wicked Wanda.

Wanda clenched her fists even as Jean tried to stand up for her. "Leave her alone!"

"Or what, Carrot Top?" Vanessa taunted, coming closer to them. "Is Wicked Wanda going to turn me into a toad?"

"Get away from me!" Wanda told her, tears building in her eyes.

"Ah, is Wicked Wanda going to cry? Careful or you'll melt," Dylan grinned maliciously.

"Stop it!" Wanda wanted them to stop. Why must Dylan and Vanessa ruin such a fun day for her and her friends? She tried to stand her ground like her father taught her, but they were taller and so mean.

"Get away from us!" Annie tried pushing Dylan away from Wanda, but only succeeded in getting pushed back harder. She banged against the metal fence, clutching her arm as she cried out in pain.

"Annie!" Jean raced to her side, leaving Wanda to face the bullies on her own.

Wanda saw red, and her nails dug into her skin as she saw her friend hurt. She turned to Dylan and Vanessa furiously. "You hurt her!"

"What are you going to do now, Wicked Wanda? Sprout wings? No wait, only monkeys can do that," Vanessa grinned.

An energy burned in Wanda's veins as her anger grew. Wanda glared fiercely at them, not noticing the other children backing away from her in fear, or the monkeys screaming and shaking as they felt something off going on nearby. The teacher, who had finally noticed the commotion, came over, but stopped when she saw some kind of red energy glowing in Wanda's hands. Even Dylan and Vanessa's malicious grins turned into fearful looks as they saw the red energy radiating off of Wanda as she glared at them with such anger, everyone worried what would happen next.

"I said STOP IT!"

Wanda hadn't fully realized what was going on with her until Dylan, Vanessa, the teacher, and all her classmates were flung from her.

Children were flung into benches, the peanut stands, and the concrete ground. Wanda saw blood and horror filled her. People nearby screamed in fear. "Monster!"

"No!" Wanda cried out, holding her hands up. "It was an accident!"

The tree that grew on the pathway in front of her burst into flames.

"Wanda! Stop!" she heard Jean call out to her then grab her hand. Suddenly, she too was flung away from her. Wanda watched, horrified as Jean flew from her, hitting her head on the pavement and blood pouring from her wound.

"JEAN!" Wanda cried, tears pouring down her face. She looked at Annie who stared at her in fear. Wanda looked at her hands that still glowed with a red energy she couldn't control. She had to get out of here before she hurt anybody else. She ran, tears blurring her vision as she went.

Dr. Stephen Strange had been going about his day after his wife, Christine took their daughter to school before heading to the hospital for work. He was reading a book on Chthon when he felt the disturbance. The ground shook slightly, and he heard a faint boom outside. He closed the book and went outside the Sanctum he guarded. Several people in the neighborhood came out to see what was going on and even a couple of cars stopped to look out. Stephen saw some smoke coming east of the neighborhood which bothered him for some reason. He figured out why when he heard the radio on a nearby car.

" _Police are receiving reports of someone throwing people and objects, and setting fires on things with some kind of red energy. Police say the source of this mayhem started in the Central Park Zoo, and advise all citizens in the area to remain indoors until the situation is contained."_

The zoo? Wanda! Stephen's heart stopped at the realization that his daughter, his only child was near the source of this destruction. He quickly told Wong to guard the Sanctum, and made a portal that would take him to his daughter. However, he discovered that Wanda wasn't near the source of this destruction, she was the source.

Wanda tried to get away from everyone, but it felt like things were getting worse. All of a sudden, it was like the screams of fear and horror were amplified, and she could sense everyone's emotions in her heads. She clutched her head, trying to block everyone out.

Make it stop! Someone please make it stop!

She heard sirens as she finally made it of the zoo. Lifting her head up, she saw a few police cars at the entrance. The police were pointing their guns at her, but were obviously startled to learn that the cause of all this was a little girl, a child. One of the officers grabbed the radio in his car and spoke through it. "Kid, no one wants to hurt you, but you have to stop whatever you're doing!"

"I don't know how!" Wanda screamed, tears burning down her face. The light post nearby fell onto one of the squad cars, forcing the officers to flee to avoid being crushed.

One of the officers, a young man looked at the ten-year-old in fear before he pulled the trigger.

Wanda, scared, threw her arms in front of her face, but it didn't hit her. She looked and saw the bullet being held by the scarlet energy she was releasing somehow. The officer who shot at her, looked at her in astonishment.

"Stay away from me!" Wanda cried out.

The police and several of their squad cars were flung back, and Wanda screamed as the cars crashed with loud bangs. Sobs escaped her and she fell to her knees, crying.

Why was this happening? She never wanted to hurt people. Those cops, her teacher, classmates, friends, or even Dylan and Vanessa. She wanted all this to stop.

"Wanda!"

Wanda looked up and saw her father Dr. Strange floating above her, a look of shock on his face. Fear filled Wanda again. What if she hurt her dad too? "Daddy, please stay away!"

Stephen felt his heart break as he watched his daughter beg him not to come near her for fear of hurting him, and tears pouring down her face. In his daughter's hands he saw a red energy unlike anything he had ever seen glow from them. That had to be what was causing all this. His Wanda was the sweetest girl who would never hurt anybody. He had to undo the she had caused, but first he had to calm her down.

"Wanda," he spoke gently, coming down to her level. "I know you're scared, but I need you to focus. Remember those meditation techniques Wong and I taught you. Breath in."

Wanda shakily took a breath in.

"Breath out." She released it.

"Breath in," Stephen instructed her, slowly coming closer to her.

"Breath out." Wanda was slowly starting to feel better as she followed her father's instructions.

"Breath in." Stephen could see the red energy receding.

"Breath out." He gently took her hands, and Wanda's eyes flew open in fear.

"It's alright, Wanda. It's alright," Stephen assured her. Holding his daughter close to him, Stephen did what he rarely did these days: use the Eye of Agamotto to undo the damage. As the Eye's magic undid everything, Stephen watched the events that his daughter had caused. Everything that had been moved was brought back to where it belonged and what had been destroyed was restored. Wanda sobbed as she watched all the damage she had caused be fixed until they were back at the moment Dylan and Vanessa were beginning to bully her before Annie had been shoved. By now, the red energy had come back as Stephen quit the spell and hurriedly placed them in the mirror dimension before the incident could repeat itself. They watched as confusion filled the faces of Wanda's classmates at her sudden disappearance.

"Where'd Wicked Wanda go?" Stephen felt fury at the boy for the cruel name he called his daughter, and finally started getting the idea as to how this had happened.

Wanda was sobbing into her father's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I- hiccup- I didn't mean too! I'm so-hiccup- sorry."

"I know, Wanda. I know," Stephen soothed, rubbing her back as he carried her back home to the Sanctum. "I know you didn't mean to hurt anybody, and it's not your fault. I just don't know how this could happen."

"I don't either," Wanda sobbed. "Vanessa and Dylan were making fun of me, and calling me names then Dylan shoved Annie, and -hiccup- she got hurt. I was so -hiccup- angry. I wanted them to stop. Then this happened."

They made it home, and Stephen brought them out of the mirror dimension.

His poor Wanda. She was so shaken up by what had happened, and it was all because of those brats. When Wanda pulled her head away from his chest, his cloak began to wipe her tears away, and another sob escaped her.

"What's happening to me, Daddy? Why did I do that? Am I a monster?"

Stephen grasped her shoulders and looked at her in the eye. "You are not a monster! Don't ever think that again, Wanda Rose Strange." He pulled her in and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Whatever this is, Wanda, we'll figure it out, and we'll get through it. I'll always protect you."

Stephen didn't allow himself to think yet of his suspicions. No sorcerer he knew readiated with such kind of power. He did not think until his wife came home early from the hospital that night after putting Wanda to bed, the possibility that their adopted daughter might possibly be a mutant.

000{{*}}000

 **So what do you guys think? We all know how Erik got his powers from the original X-men movie and First Class, so I thought about opening this version of the original X-men movie by showing how Peter and Wanda got their powers in my version. I don't know how often I'll be able to update with all the homework I have to do this semester before graduating this May. Please review and let me know your thoughts.**


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